Cub Scout steps up to help Va. Beach special needs teen
Every day is a kind of Groundhog’s Day for 13-year-old Ethan Groneck.
The Virginia Beach teen, who is severely autistic and has Down Syndrome, likes each day to be the same. He doesn’t understand, or cope well, when his routine isn’t followed.
Without question, the activity he looks forward to most is a ride to the thrift store to pick out a book or video. It’s been a reward system of sorts for years, his mother, Michelle, said.
His parents tried taking him to the library, but Ethan had such a hard time returning the books and videos, they decided to take him to the thrift store instead. Besides, it’s not watching the videos or reading the books that Ethan enjoys most. He likes collecting, sorting and categorizing them.
But when the coronavirus pandemic forced many businesses — including thrift stores — to close in March, it also shut down Ethan’s favorite part of the day.
“I literally had a panic attack,” Michelle Groneck said. “I thought, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
One idea was to take Ethan “shopping” at a friend’s house. She asked Brandy Schlossberg if she could leave items in her mailbox each day and then take Ethan by to get them. The Schlossbergs live in South Shore Estates, and the
Gronecks are a mile or two away in Heritage Park, near Sandbridge.
Schlossberg was happy to help, but worried the items might get wet in their leaky mailbox, or might confuse the mail delivery people.
That’s when Schlossberg ’s daughter, 11-year-old Bridget, came up with her own idea to help Ethan and his family.
Bridget, who goes by the nickname Gidget, is best friends with Ethan’s sister and has known the family since she was a preschooler. She’s also a Cub Scout, having become one of the first in Virginia Beach to sign up once the organization began allowing girls to join.
To keep the items dry and prevent them from getting mixed with the mail, Gidget suggested placing them in a clear plastic container, which she decorated and labeled “Ethan’s Box.” She also offered to provide the items, donating books and videos she no longer uses.
“She was like, ‘Gosh, mom. We have all these books and DVDs we don’t need,’” Brandy Schlossberg said. “‘Why don’t we give them to Ethan?’”
For several months now, Gidget has been setting the box out each day, next to their brick mail post, with a book or video for Ethan.
Michelle Groneck said she and
her family have been overwhelmed by Gidget’s good deed. Every day they either drive over, or ride their bikes with Ethan behind in a covered bike trailer, to collect his new item.
Ethan, who is nonverbal but has a limited number of signs he uses to communicate, will often sign
thank you when he sees it.
“The first time, he was sort of shocked,” Gidget said. “He wasn’t at Goodwill or anything like that. But then he just got used to it.”
Gidget enjoys watching Ethan get his new book or video.
“Sometimes I’ll go out there and say ‘Hi,’” she said. “I like seeing him
so happy.”
Other friends also have started helping, offering donations to help keep the supply going. Ethan’s favorite characters are Mickey Mouse and Dora the Explorer.
And while thrift stores are open again, Michelle Groneck said they haven’t returned because Ethan refuses to wear a mask and she wants to keep him, and others, safe.
“We’re just going to keep doing this for the foreseeable future,” she said.
Gidget decided to make “Ethan’s Box” the subject of a movie-making project for Cub Scouts. Project participants can earn a pin for completing it.
Gidget’s said her five-minute video took weeks to make. There aren’t any words: just music, photos, captions and short video clips. It’s driven some viewers to tears, she said.
The video explains how Ethan has Down syndrome and the most severe level of autism. It also explains how he loves books and videos, and going to get them at a local Goodwill store. And it shows how the pandemic impacted his visits, and how Gidget came up with an idea to help.
Near the end, Ethan is seen sitting in the back of his family’s SUV outside Gidget’s house. Wearing a Mickey Mouse visor and holding the book left for him that day, he makes the sign for “thank you” while Gidget stands by smiling.
The SUV is then seen driving away, and an image of a coronavirus model appears on the screen.
“Now more than ever,” it says in white letters, “We can all be helpful, friendly and kind.”