Sask. Safeway buys accessible grocery cart for boy with special needs

For most people, grocery shopping is as easy as walking into a store and pulling out a cart. But for one Regina family, it’s a chore that was becoming increasingly difficult. 

Leanne Scott does the grocery shopping for her family of three. Her son Callum Scott-Fuhr, 4, has global developmental delay and hypotonia, which means he has low muscle tone and requires a wheelchair.

That can make grocery shopping difficult, because Scott has to push her son's wheelchair and the cart.

“I thought well this doesn’t work very well for him. And I tried dragging one behind the other but it was just getting frustrating for him and scary for him,” said Scott. 

“And I thought, well there’s got to be something better than that because I can’t always go to the grocery store and just use a basket and only get that many things. I have to get enough for our family.”

It got to a point where Scott was hiring a babysitter every time she went shopping.

A few months ago, she called the manager at the 13th Avenue Safeway a block and a half from her home, and asked him if he’d consider bringing in an accessible shopping cart called Caroline’s Cart.

After a few meetings with Brent Kaminski, Leanne put together a proposal and together they sent it off to the company’s public relations department.

Earlier this week, Kaminski called Scott and invited her to the store for a surprise.

Safeway, Elks Canada buy accessible cart

Safeway partnered with Elks Canada to split the cost of the $1,000 cart. That’s about double the cost of a small children’s cart Safeway has in store right now.

“I think it is an important investment, said Kaminiski. “It’s not so much the dollar amount, it’s the ability to come and shop.”

Callum has enough obstacles to deal with- Dale Fuhr, father

Scott and her husband Dale Fuhr were ecstatic when they came in to see the cart Friday morning.

“It makes me feel like he can be included and he can be part of the world,” said Scott.

The couple want their son to have experiences any other child would have, and for them, that includes grocery shopping.

​“Callum has enough obstacles to deal with so the more things like this that make it easier for us not to have to think about these things, then I think the better his world will be and his confidence will build,” said Fuhr.

Caroline’s Cart was founded by a mother in North Carolina and is designed so the person in the grocery cart can face the person pushing it. The handles bend to the side for easy access, and there is a built-in safety belt. The wheels are designed for easy steering.

“It’s wonderful. I love being able to know that Callum is safe. That he is not going to fall. He’s not going to twist," said Scott. “He can look at me, which is really nice for a special needs child. It’s not just a mobility issue. It’s also a sensory issue.”

And the cart is not just for children. It can hold a person up to 250 pounds. 

Elks Canada wants to help Safeway get carts into every store across Canada and they have already started planning. An Alberta Safeway store was the first to get a cart earlier this month.

"It is very emotional for us, it really helps the families,” said Scott.