WYTHEVILE, Va. – A man in the New River Valley is not letting Down syndrome stop him from fulfilling his dreams of having a job as he has taken his first steps with this by starting his own business Gavin’s Frozen Treats.
“I never dreamed that he would enjoy it as much as he has,” said Kim Brooks, Gavin’s mom.
Gavin Frazier has always wanted to be involved in something, but since graduating high school, that has been progressively harder with his disability.
“He would go up to managers of McDonald’s while we were eating and shake their hand and say ‘My name is Gavin’ and he would get their business card and he would say ‘I want to work here,’” said Brooks. “Him having Down syndrome, even though he is super high functioning and can basically do any daily task, the safety issue was always an issue with me.”
His mom said whenever they would get ice cream together, Gavin would tell her he wants to give people ice cream and it made him happy to watch people get their sweet treats.
So when the opportunity came to transform a bus into a dessert truck, she knew she had to.
“There was a lady that lived next door to my aunt that had the bus for sale,” said Brooks. “I talked to Gavin and what all it would entail, and he was on board.”
His mom bought the bus and began the transformation, turning it into a sweet, cold treats mobile.
Gavin and his mom worked tirelessly getting the bus ready, and then they hit the road taking it to different events around town.
He is now able to serve people ice cream on an almost daily basis.
Gavin’s mom said watching Gavin work and grow has been special.
“As a mom, it has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done,” said Brooks. “It’s been amazing, it really has. It’s been the joy of my life to be his mom.”
They said they hope they get to continue serving people the sweet treats even in the colder months.