Carter Crockett came up with the idea to collect crayons and coloring books for sick children about a year ago. (Fox 29/Facebook)
A 15-year-old autistic teen on a mission to collect coloring books and crayons for sick children completed his journey earlier this month, when he arrived in Memphis to hand-deliver his donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Carter Crockett, of southern New Jersey, came up with the idea about a year ago while eating dinner with his mom, Patti.
“He asked me what St. Jude was because they were doing they’re annual fundraiser, and I explained what St. Jude was and what they were doing and that’s how it all started,” Patti Crockett told Fox 29.
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Crockett’s plea for donations made the rounds on Facebook, and eventually caught the eye of a Chili’s, which donated t-shirts, gift cards, Play Doh, hats and other goodies. In total, the Crocketts packed 15,000 crayons and 1,500 coloring books into an RV for their road trip to Memphis, Fox 29 reported.
Crockett, Patti and two friends turned the June 29 multi-day road trip into a sight-seeing tour before pulling up to hero’s welcome in Memphis. Facebook footage of Crockett’s arrival shows the teen receiving high-fives from St. Jude staffers.
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“The fact that he was feeling compassion toward other people is huge because that’s not something that autistic kids have – that’s really hard for them to do,” Patti told Fox 29. “I feel truly blessed that he did this. He did this all on his own.”
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