DAD’S ICE CREAM TRUCK GAVE HIS KIDS WITH DOWN SYNDROME WORK
A Cincinnati-area dad turned a used ice cream truck into a career path for his kids with Down syndrome. Joel Wegener’s business, Special Neat Treats, was built around that idea.
Wegener, a father of 10, started operating the truck in April 2021 with his children Josh and Mary Kate, who both have Down syndrome and help work the business. By the time TODAY profiled the family on October 20, 2021, they had sold more than 10,000 treats.
The name came from his wife. “My wife had the brilliant idea to name it Special Neat Treats, a play on words of special needs,” Wegener said.
Wegener said the truck started as an answer to a worry every parent in his spot understands. He realized the business could offer his kids a career path after they aged out of the school system.
“What can we do to give them worth and to allow them to add some value to society?” he said.
He was also honest about what the future might hold. “I don’t know that either one of them will ever be totally independent,” Wegener said.
Wegener bought the original truck from an Indiana family that had operated it with their own children with special needs, Cincinnati Magazine reported. The family sells frozen treats at neighborhoods and events around Greater Cincinnati.
Mary Kate said she looked forward to “always” working on the truck. She called her dad “the best dad ever.”
The school visit that stuck with him
The family also brought treats to a local school’s program for students with special needs. Wegener said a girl there thanked him.
“Thanks for coming today; you made my day,” she told him, according to Wegener.
It changed how he saw the whole venture. “I realized, when I left, this isn’t about selling ice cream,” Wegener said.
“I didn’t cure her autism, I didn’t take care of the other issues in her life, but for one day for one moment, she had a great day,” he said.
Wegener said he hoped to expand the business and help more children with special needs.
What happened next
The road got bumpy in 2023. Loveland Magazine reported that the family’s main truck suffered an engine failure in May 2023. A second truck the family had bought needed major repairs too.
A fundraising effort sought $6,000 to cover the repairs.
Cincinnati Magazine described Special Neat Treats as job training for Josh and Mary Kate. Wegener’s wife and another daughter sometimes help with the driving, the magazine reported.
Cincinnati Magazine reported on August 23, 2024 that Wegener had bought a second truck to expand the business, which serves Greater Cincinnati from spring through summer.
