A 4-year-old Colorado Springs boy who is crazy about trucks, for some reason became enthralled with one in particular — the big brown delivery truck that dropped off special milk to his family twice a week.
Those frequent visits inspired a strong bond of friendship between Carson and the UPS driver, Ernie Lagasca. It got to the point where he’d hear the truck coming and be waiting on the curb. “Mr. Ernie,” as Carson calls him, also anticipated their time together. Each time the truck arrived, the boy expressed the same wild excitement.
“[In] my job, I meet a lot of wonderful people, but Carson really stood out,” Lagasca said. “Just to see him growing up so far in his young life, how I’ve made an impact on him. He adds a bright light into my life. It makes me feel my job is more worthwhile.”
Over the years the boy acquired UPS stickers and other items that fueled his love of “playing UPS” in the family’s basement — and he even has his own brown uniform and UPS hat.
“He’s always looking really sharp in his hat, and his boots — the whole outfit,” said Ernie. But the best part was the boy’s enthusiasm and big hugs.
Recently, as part of UPS’s Wishes Delivered campaign, Carson received a special delivery, the gift of a lifetime, his own child sized UPS truck, unloaded by Mr. Ernie himself.
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Now, Carson has a hand-drawn map of the neighborhood and delivers cookies and other items to the community. He loads up the truck with brown boxes taped up and labeled by hand and always asks them to “pretend to sign” his ledger acknowledging receipt of the item, just like his hero, Ernie.
(WATCH the delightful video showing the surprise delivery)
For each wish shared on wishesdelivered.ups.com or on social media using #WishesDelivered, UPS will donate $1 to charity, up to $100,000. What do you wish for?
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