![]() Joseph Mankee got his Christmas wish — a new paint job for his electric toy pickup, which helps the disabled 9-year-old get around.
Photo courtesy of Linda enlow
Sierra Tucson Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Health Care CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Trades/Construction RANCHO RESORT MAINTANANCE POSITION Administrative & Professional Tucson Urban League CEO/President Sales and Marketing Everready Glass Sales Reps Mechanical Komatsu Equipment Co Resident Field Mechanic Administrative & Professional Jorgensen Brooks Group Counselor MidtownDealership gives toy pickup a jazzed-up new paint jobTucson, Arizona | Published: 12.27.2006
A local car dealership made a Christmas wish come true for 9-year-old Joseph Mankee when it transformed his old electric toy pickup truck, for free.
All Joseph wanted for Christmas was an orange truck, said his grandmother, Linda Enlow.
Enlow couldn't find a new play truck for Joseph, who suffers from Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, a genetic disorder that makes him unable to use his legs.
As a last resort, she called the Royal Suzuki dealership, 5920 E. Speedway, to ask if it would repaint an old black truck that had already been modified for Joseph, who lives with his family in Midtown.
"I didn't even get it out of my mouth and he said 'Bring it down,' " she said of Joe Blackwood, manager of the collision center of the Royal Automotive Group, which includes the Suzuki dealership.
When Enlow picked up the truck it was personalized for Joseph with decals and flames.
"It was just worth every time and effort," she said. "It was priceless."
Blackwood said he couldn't resist taking on the task.
"We can do something very nice to a family that's been through a lot," he said. "It was a lot of work but it's something special."
It took four employees about a week to paint the truck and to develop and put on the decals, Blackwood said.
"We got together and thought of a way to make it really special for him."
And judging from Joseph's reaction, it was special indeed.
"He had the biggest smile and his eyes were as big as saucers," Enlow said.
midtown
— Djamila Grossman
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