The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘It can be life changing’
Funds from Branford-based ‘LoLoWich’ ice cream treats help buy special equipment, accessories for kids with medical needs
BRANFORD — The Blanchette family loves to take part in family outings to Chatfield Hollow, Hammonasset and the aquarium.
It’s been difficult, over the years, to enjoy these excursions to their fullest as 11-year-old Patrick Blanchette gets easily fatigued due to cerebral palsy.
Enter LoloWich, created to make life easier for families needing assistance with children dealing with medical and physical difficulties.
Doug Rice of Branford created LoloWich in honor of his granddaughter, Loelle, affectionately known as Lolo.
“The goal was to support the community that she’s in,” says Rice. This 9-year-old was born with CHARGE syndrome, which can result in a multitude of birth anomalies that include heart defects, breathing and swallowing issues, cleft lip and palate and vision, hearing and speech difficulties.
LoloWich supplies ice cream sandwiches, vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies and rolled in rainbow sprinkles or chocolate chips, to local restaurants and breweries, including Stony Creek Brewery, Dockside Seafood and Grill, Branford; and Rose Orchards and Van Wilgen’s Garden Center, in North Branford.
All proceeds are aimed at helping the special needs community and LoloWich has raised some $13,000 so far. Gifts range from adaptive indoor and outdoor equipment, sensory accessories, nutritional supplies, communication devices and financial aid for a service or support animal.
To nominate a child, visit lolowich.com.
The Blanchette family of Branford experienced the generosity of LoloWich, firsthand, with the gift of
“The goal was to support the community that she’s in.” Doug Rice of Branford created LoloWich in honor of his granddaughter, Loelle, affectionately known as Lolo
a metal platform that attaches to the rear of the family car. It enables the transport of this Walsh Intermediate School student’s power wheelchair and adaptive bicycle.
“So, now actually we’re able to transport his wheelchair on it,” Katy Blanchette says. “So, it’s opened up a lot of new opportunities for him. Now when we go to the zoo or the aquarium, I don’t have to
worry about him getting fatigued because we can actually bring his wheelchair with us, which is amazing.”
“It has a ramp, so he can essentially ride up and then we can attach the wheelchair to it,” she adds.
This is exactly what Rice envisioned when he created LoloWich.
This is a family affair, with Lolo’s mother, Melissa Shepler and her sister Kimberley Crowley, working alongside their father.
Rice talks about why he chose this specific product, made by The Royal Ice Cream Company in Manchester.
“The cookie doesn’t break when you bite it, the ice cream doesn’t melt when you eat it,” says Rice. “It’s just perfect, perfect.”
The company’s tag line is “Life is Sweet.”
Shepler of Ellington knows firsthand how important this work is to the families raising special needs children, no matter what their diagnosis.
“There’s so much equipment, there’s so much education, there’s so much learning,” she says.
“Therapy,” chimes in Rice.
“It’s not cheap,” she adds. “It all comes at a cost and we all want the best for our kids.”
Even something as simple as a device that helps a child with physical limitations play with toys like her peers can make all the difference.
Shepler talks about a switch toy that was gifted to a family through a paraprofessional at the child’s school.
“With all that I do with her,” she says, Lolo standing by her side, “all the therapies, all the equipment, I never heard of switch toys. So, it opened up my eyes to something new that my daughter would totally benefit from.”
Shepler explains that “you can take any type of toy that’s battery operated, switch operated and you plug in an adaptive switch. You press the button once and you can activate the toy as you would if you were a typical child.”
She says Lolo can now play along with her brothers, Weston, 7 years old and Walker, 4 years old, with her adaptive Nerf gun.
“All she has to do is press the switch and off go her Nerf bullets,” she says, laughing.
Receiving the car platform was as wonderful for the LoloWich team as it was for the Blanchette family.
“They were so excited and they were more than happy to do that for us, so that was really special,” Katy Blanchette says.
Nominations for LoloWich’s generosity can come from family members, therapists, teachers, friends, neighbor, “anyone who just wants to make someone feel great, surprise them, take a load off them for a minute,” says Crowley.
Rice choked up a when asked how it made him feel to know he was helping so many families. Crowley spoke up.
“Seeing what my sister and husband and family have gone through and adapting every single day, every week, every month to give Luella the best life — you want to give to others who understand the challenge of having a child with special needs,” she says.
Rice and Crowley both agree that many times people are reluctant to ask for help.
“I think it’s a pride thing,” says Rice.
“It’s not based on your financial situation,” chimes in Crowley. “It’s not based off who has the hardest situation. We just want to help anybody, whether it be something small, like an iPad or sensory activity to a wheelchair or motorized scooter.”
The Blanchette family is grateful for the gift.
“Most things associated with having a special needs kiddo is twice or three times more expensive than something for a typical developing kid,” says Katy Blanchette.
“So, to have that taken off of our plate and not have to worry about that expense was immense for us,” she added. “That’s one less thing that we have to worry about.”
For Rice, Crowley and Shepler this is exactly what LoloWich is all about.
“It’s helping the families, but it’s celebrating the child,” says Shepler. “It’s celebrating them for who they are for what they’ve accomplished and their uniqueness, and so why not provide them with something that helps them thrive and makes them feel good in their own skin.”
Katy Blanchette feels the same way.
“It is super hard to ask for help because I, myself, am a helper, so it took me a little bit to be willing to accept this gift,” she says. “But, again, I did it for Patrick because ultimately, he is the one that benefits from it.”
“It does relieve some of the burden, so I would just say, ‘Don’t be afraid to accept the help, to ask for help because that’s what it’s there for, that’s what they’re trying to do,” she adds. “They’re really trying to help people.”
“It can be life changing,” she added. “It can open up so many new doors and opportunities for the kiddos.”