Andrew Carpenter showed us in 2020 what joy looks like – AL.com

This story is part of AL.coms series Alabamians who made a difference in 2020, highlighting people who have made our state a better place to live this year. Stories in this series will publish each day from Dec. 11 to Dec. 31, 2020. Find all stories on the Alabamians who made a difference in 2020 by clicking here.

Every year, Andrew Carpenter has his Halloween costume planned by Labor Day and 2020 was no exception. Throughout the year, 11-year-old Andrew, who has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal, was excited again and again every time an Amazon delivery arrived at the door of his home in Mobile. He enjoyed seeing Amazon drivers so much that he decided thats what he wanted to be for Halloween.

His mother, Amy Carpenter, enlisted the help of a friends daughters, Jessica Sanders and Angela Sanders, who work at the Amazon fulfillment center in Theodore, to see if they would get a hat or a T-shirt for Andrew to wear as his costume. They went above and beyond, sending him a complete driver costume.

We were blown away by that, Amy says but there was more to come.

The week after Halloween, an Amazon delivery truck arrived at their home decorated with balloons. Andrew, wearing his Halloween costume, was invited on board to help move the boxes around and even sit in the drivers seat, where he honked the horn until I thought the battery would die, his mom says.

And though Amy had known they were coming to surprise him, she had no idea what they were about to do for Andrew, who loves to open packages.

There was something in every box for him, says Amy. There was a Fire tablet, an Alexa speaker, a hat, socks, beach towel, flashlight and more. Im not a crier, and I was teary-eyed. Andrew was over the moon.

She documented every moment of the surprise and posted about it on her Facebook page, and her post was shared more than 3,400 times. People just loved Andrews Amazon story, she says. The fact that a large corporation would make such a difference in one little boys life was heartwarming. It seems that Andrews story and photos were a bright spot for many people.

Its certainly not the first time Andrew has been a bright spot. A sixth-grade student in the special education program at Causey Middle School, Andrew is a happy-go-lucky boy, his mom says. His smile is his most captivating feature, she adds. He lures people with his smile and his charm. His gift is bringing joy and bringing people together.

The smallest thing he opened that day, a toy Amazon delivery truck, remains his favorite. Several weeks later, he still loves playing with it. He lines it up with his other cars, and it gets stuck in traffic on his imaginary highways. It makes deliveries to houses when it can get out of the traffic snarl, his mom says.

The special delivery is something no one in the Carpenter family will ever forget. The kindness and love that the Amazon employees and delivery drivers showed Andrew is still the piece that resonates the most, Amy says. We still cannot get over how much they did for Andrew. It set an example of kindness and how big an impact small and big gestures can have on one family and an entire community.

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Andrew Carpenter showed us in 2020 what joy looks like - AL.com