A Big Reveal About A Big Deal “A Little Something Extra”
By Bonita Wilborn
In 2001 Anthony and Michelle Norwood started on a journey that in the beginning was a very scary trail that led to a wonderful adventure, when their son Hunter was born with Down Syndrome. (Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is typically associated with physical growth delays, characteristic facial features, and mild to moderate intellectual disability.) Hunter is currently a junior in Geraldine High School.
“We have always wanted to give our other children every opportunity. If they wanted it, we wanted to be able to do whatever we could to help them succeed in life,” Michelle Norwood said. “Of course, that’s exactly what we want for Hunter also. I don’t ever want to be the parent that says, ‘You can’t.’ We want to give him something he can work at every week.”
Michelle Norwood is a special education teacher and director of the after-school program at Crossville High School. She has watched many of her students work in the break store at school, and saw how they interact, and learn to count money.
“I’ve laid awake many nights trying to figure out exactly what we want for Hunter. One night, I just thought, ‘We could start an ice cream truck for Hunter.’ But Hunter has so many friends and I didn’t want it to be just about him.”
One that the Norwood family has discovered since being blessed with their son, Hunter, is that people really have a heart for people with disabilities. “There’s a million beautiful things that have come from having Hunter in our life,” Michelle said, “but one of the beautiful things that has come from it is seeing how tremendous people are toward someone with disabilities. I want the world to see that people with disabilities still have the ability to give back to the world. They’re very worthy of holding jobs, contributing, making donations to charities, just as a non-disabled person is. That’s what I hope the end result can be. These kids have purpose, it gives them something to look forward to, and I want to assure that they see they can give back to the world in many ways, just as you and I can.”
After many hours of sleepless nights, much prayer and soul searching, a year of planning and a multitude of help, on Saturday, August 25, at Fyffe’s UFO Festival, Hunter Norwood and his family began what they expect might be a life long business for Hunter; a business called “A Little Something Extra” Ice Cream. The ice cream truck business has a plethora of benefits. Not only will it bring awareness and acceptance for people with intellectual and other disabilities, but it will also help children with disabilities develop business and social skills.
“The name ‘A Little Something Extra’ if for the extra chromosome that causes Down Syndrome,” Michelle said. “These people have a little something extra that makes them a whole lot more special. I cannot believe the blessings that the truck has brought. So many kids and their families have come out and supported it and wanted to help with it. From time to time we start losing faith in humanity, but if you ever feel yourself losing faith, you should come work the ice cream truck sometime. It brings out the good in everybody! It is the sweetest experience. I couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people. David House took the pictures of all of the kids on the Ice Cream Truck, and we’re still hoping to add others. Also, Janie House, David’s wife, has helped me so much. Gary Bouldin at GB Enterprise helped us to find the truck. He was so wonderful to work with us. Jamie Larson and Tracey Cleckler have worked tirelessly helping me get this started. These people don’t want anything in return. They just want to see it become successful.”
“My original plan was that my husband and I along with some of our friends would actually do the selling and we would let Hunter and other people with disabilities start working with public relations, doing “meet and greet”, and then after we figured out the business, we’d slowly work them into working inside the truck. But everyone that has come wanted to work in the truck immediately, and they have done an amazing job. That’s how I know this came from a higher power than me. God had a hand in it. When I plan something it usually just falls apart, but I couldn’t have ask for any part of this to have gone smoother. I really feel like this idea came from God. We just want to be sure that we promote it and use it and give God’s part back to him. I think there are some big things in store, even things that we haven’t decided on yet. If somebody had said, “you’re going to own an ice cream truck…” I always thought it was a nice idea, but I never really thought that I might be the one doing it. But it’s been a lot of fun.”
Anthony Norwood works full-time at Siemens, Michelle teaches full-time, Brodie their youngest son, plays ball, so they live a very active life, but Michelle said, “This is something that we could still work into the mix and we’re having so much fun with it. The community has just been wonderful. In my wildest dreams I would not have believed that they would have been that receptive. And it’s not just our immediate community, but far and wide people have reached out to us. I believe there’s a big future for it. There are many families out there who, like us, want something for their child to do.
“Originally I had planned to do a few venues to try to cover the overhead expenses until the spring, and then we were planning to do ice cream routes. But we have had so many people reach to us out about venues. We have several venues scheduled every month thought out the remainder of the year, and expect to participate in many of the area Christmas Parades. Statistics show that more people buy ice cream in the winter than they do in the summer. There are different venues available every month, and we plan to look for those and participate in January, February, and March. We already have bookings through the end of July 2019,” Michelle explained.
The Norwood family has already been approached about the possibility of franchising “A Little Something Extra” so that other families with children that have disabilities can also have something to look forward to. Michelle said, “We’re working with our accountants and lawyers to try to get some expectations and things we would like to see in writing, so that we’ll have it in the event that we do franchise. The people who contacted us are currently working with us to learn the business and that might be a possibility sometime in the future. My hope is that within 5 or 6 years, ‘A Little Something Extra Ice Cream’ will be iconic.”
“A Little Something Extra” ice cream truck features Blue Bunny Brand Ice Cream. After contacting multiple ice cream brands, the Norwoods contacted Blue Bunny, which has a distribution center in Hueytown, Alabama, near Birmingham. When they got in touch with Blue Bunny, it was obvious that’s was the brand they wanted to use. The folks at Blue Bunny were very helpful, provided all sorts of information, and in Michelle’s words were, “just a wealth of knowledge. They’ve answered all my questions and were happy to offer more advise than we even knew we needed. They’ve just been perfect to work with us.”
According to Michelle, the profits from the business are currently going back into the business to help cover the costs that have been incurred while getting the business up and running. There is a tip jar on the counter. The original plan for tips to be divided between any of the kids that work the truck on that particular day, but nobody wanted the tips, they are just happy to have the experience. So the tips are being put into a separate account with the hope of donating it to a charity. Once the initial business expenses have been paid off the Norwoods are looking at the possibility of it become a non-profit.
“For years Hunter has said ‘I’m going to Auburn’. Then we learned about a program starting this at Auburn this fall. It’s a program, which is designed to allow intellectually disabled people to go to college. They are pared with typical students. The typical student would be taking college courses and the intellectually disabled person would be taking life skill courses. They work on campus, learn to do laundry, budgets, and after four years these students should be able to live independently,” Michelle said. “I don’t want to write that off as an option for him. That would come as another idea that might be funded by the ice cream business. Some of the proceeds would enable Hunter to participate in a program like that one day.”
On the outside of the truck there are photos of Hunter’s friends, and on the back of the truck, all three Norwood children – Brodie, Hunter, and Hope – are pictured along with a heart with wings for their daughter who passed away.
“Between Hope and Hunter, I had another daughter,” Michelle explained. “She passed away when she was a week old. I put all my kids on the truck because I’m always afraid people think I only have one child because I advocate so much for Hunter.”
After giving birth to Hunter, a child with disabilities, Michelle Norwood, who has a business degree, went back to school to become a special education teacher. She has written a song for him, and has a music video on YouTube. It’s called ‘Hunter’s Song,’ and it tells about their journey.”
One thing the Norwood family enjoys about their ice cream truck business is Hunter’s excitement to have a job of his own. He is the manager of the truck. Michelle said, “At first when we told Hunter, who doesn’t eat ice cream, he said, ‘Please let’s do a Mexican food truck.’ but now he’s just so excited to tell everyone that he has his own job.”
Michelle Norwood has been surprised by Hunter’s assertiveness at the events they’ve participated in. “He has done great, and he’s loving it in the truck,” she said.
They are currently scheduled to set up at Little Mountain Marina’s Bluegrass Festival on September 8, Vintage Pickin’ on September 14-15, and Boaz Harvest Festival on October 5-6. If you have a venue that you would like to have them set up at contact Michelle at moc.oohayobfsctd@maerceciartxe.
“I want people to know that having a child with Down Syndrome is not a death sentence,” Michelle Norwood said. “I actually like to consider it a life sentence, because it has changed our lives in a good way because we look at the world completely different now. I hope this will enable other families to do the same thing for their child.
“A Little Something Extra Ice Cream” has “I’m so extra” T-shirts for sell at each event for $12 in youth and adult sizes, or you can order them through their Facebook page A Little Something Extra Ice Cream. Be sure to look for the ice cream truck at various venues through out the area and stop by to see Hunter and his friends. They’ll make your visit a little something extra.
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