When the Roman family heard that Nature’s Path planned to discontinue one of its products, they felt heartbroken. After all, it was one of the only things Jerico Roman, a young boy with autism, would eat. Thankfully, the company heard the family’s pleas and did something about it!
Boy With Autism And Eating Struggles
Jenna and Jerico Roman, from Vancouver, British Columbia, thought they were in for a world of hurt when Jerico’s favorite waffles were discontinued. The 10-tear old boy with autism can eat few other foods, as he faces significant eating challenges that prevent him from enjoying most foods. Jenna knows hows how bad things can become when her son doesn’t have the nutrition he needs. “During [the last] time, he regressed so badly, he had to re-learn how to eat and drink again, which was so upsetting to him,” she recalled of one particularly hard trial.
Thankfully, a few years ago, Jenna found something Jerico would eat! The Maple Cinnamon Waffles are made by the company Nature’s Path. Sadly, recently, Jenna discovered that the company planned on discontinuing the product. When she heard that, she went to every single store she could, purchasing up every box of Maple Cinnamon Waffles they had. Jenna even set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs. “I was just hoping that people could look at their local stores to see if the waffles were there and could grab them for me so I could pay them and get them picked up,” she explained.
Of course, Jenna and Jerico had no idea they would soon receive quite the helping hand…
Developing A Waffle Recipe
As news of their story grew, Jenna and Jerico’s issue even reached the ears of the CEO and co-founder of Nature’s Path, Ratana Stephens! Of course, she felt compelled to help. “We did a search across North America, and found eight remaining cases in our freezer warehouse in Illinois,” Stephens said. “So we had those cases shipped up here, and then personally delivered them to Jenna and Jerico.” While that seems like a nice enough thing to do, the company was not done helping!
In addition to shipping every last box of its discontinued waffles product to the Romans, they vowed to develop an easy recipe for Jenna to follow. One that used ingredients she could easily find in store two! In a little over a month, Nature’s Path had finished the work. “[Our workers] have come up with the perfect recipe that tastes just like the Nature’s Path Cinnamon Maple Waffles you used to be able to buy in the grocery store,” Stephens said. “It means the world to us to be able to help Jenna and Jerico.”
So far, Jerico hasn’t tried the homemade recipe. As soon as he gets a taste, Jenna will give his newfound fans an update. “I just am so appreciative for all the support, empathy, care from the community and really around the world now. This is just amazing how far Jerico’s story has gone,” she said.
Sources: The Today Show, The Vancouver Sun.