Home Depot Brings Grandma to Tears After Building Special Mailbox for Her Autistic Grandson
Denise Haight found herself walking around her local Home Depot, trying to figure out what to do for her grandson’s birthday. When two employees approached her, she had no idea just how helpful they would turn out to be.
7-year-old Cameron has autism and is obsessed with mailboxes. She wrote in a Facebook post, “He loves to put things in, take them out, open the door, close the door, raise the flag, lower the flag over and over (not necessarily in that order!)”
She had an idea, but didn’t know how to turn that idea into a reality; she wanted to build a mailbox that could be moved from room to room, but was sturdy enough to withstand the young boy’s play.
Haight said, “I had an idea of what I was trying to construct — I had gone in to get parts and pieces and try to create something. But I think they looked at me and thought, ‘she looks like she’s confused.'”
She relayed her vision to the Home Depot employees until Gary Malak, the Store Manager, looked at her and asked her to trust him. She agreed so Malak told her to come back the following Saturday.
When she returned to see the finished product, she couldn’t believe it! The fine employees of the Gaylord, Michigan, Home Depot had constructed the “perfect” mailbox for sweet Cameron.
Tears immediately began to fall down her face.
When she asked how much the mailbox would cost, Malak told her that it was free of charge. “Tell that little boy Happy Birthday from Home Depot,” he said.
Haight said, “I must have looked like an idiot pushing the cart through the check out crying like a baby!”
The crew at Home Depot not only went out of their way to build the perfect gift for Cameron, but they also added a few extra little presents inside: a teddy bear, other small toys, and a Home Depot apron.
In a now-viral Facebook post, Haight thanked the amazing employees who contributed to her grandson’s present. She wrote, “Thank you so much to Gary & Lorel as well as Gene, Laura and Don who built the mailbox!”
While Home Depot does not have an official statement, a representative of the company said that they “love to hear these stories.”
Cameron is a huge fan of his birthday present and his grandmother said “the look on his face (when he first saw it) was just amazing.”
The amount of love and support being shown as a result of the Facebook post has warmed the family’s heart. People have even asked for an address so that they could send real mail to Cameron. “Never in a million years do you think that something like that will come your way,” said Haight of the love shown to them since.
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