By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

When Alabaster resident Drew Long and her husband began searching for information about shopping carts designed for special-needs children, they were shocked by what they discovered.

The Long’s special-needs daughter, Caroline, was 8 years old, and no longer fit in the seat area of traditional shopping carts. Every time Long went grocery shopping, she would have to either arrange for someone to care for Caroline, simultaneously push Caroline’s wheelchair and the shopping cart or buy only what she could carry while pushing her wheelchair.

“I thought ‘I’m not the only mom with a special-need’s child. There has to be a shopping cart for older special-needs kids, just not in Alabaster.’” Long said. “Well, there wasn’t anything else out there. Other moms either didn’t bring their children, or they pushed the cart and pulled the wheelchair at the same time.”

Most major grocery retailers offer carts designed for young children and motorized scooters for adults, but do not offer anything for special-needs children who fall between those two categories, said Easter Seals Birmingham’s Director of Development Kelli Keith.

“There was a big gap missing there. You don’t just develop a disability at 50 years old,” Keith said.

Long, who also has a typical son and daughter, then took a “leap of faith,” and decided to design what she believed would help fill the gap.

The design looked similar to a typical shopping cart, but included a larger seat complete with a five-point harness, swiveling handles to allow easy access to the seat and several purse hooks along the side of the cargo area.

The design also featured extra wheels for stability and 10,000 cubic inches of carrying capacity.

After taking the design to the Indianapolis-based Indesign professional design firm, Long then applied for a design and utility patent, which is currently pending. The family also approached Easter Seals, which provides services to individuals with disability, with the idea.

“We needed someone to champion our cause. They thought it was a great idea, and they said we had their full support,” Long said. “We want a portion of every cart sold to go to Easter Seals.”

Today, Long uses a prototype of the cart every time she goes shopping. She said she has gained the support of a national shopping cart manufacturer, and has spoken with representatives from Walmart, Food Lion, Publix and Target about offering the cart in their stores.

Long is now in the process of making the product more well-known in hopes of convincing local and national grocery stores to order the cart.

“We just want the stores to carry three or four Caroline’s Carts,” Long said. “We are very confident that the cart has a market. There is a need.

“We are just in the critical part of bringing it to the stores,” she added.

To learn more about the project, visit Carolinescart.com.