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Friends, Neighbors Rally to Give Diabetic Wyandotte Boy a Fun Halloween

Seven-year-old Jack Anderson gave out candy to other kids from his own pumpkin patch, which was inspired by the animated TV special "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown."

Like most kids, 7-year-old Jack Anderson was looking forward to trick-or-treating this Halloween and bringing home a full load of candy.

He had decided to go door-to-door this year dressed as Peanuts character Linus van Pelt; inspired by his favorite animated TV program It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

However, plans unfortunately changed for the Jefferson Elementary School second-grader.

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On Oct. 18 he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, which meant no sweets for him this Halloween.

Jack’s mother, Jennifer Anderson, knew she had to do something to perk up his spirits.

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Knowing that he planned to dress as Linus, she decided to bring his beloved Charlie Brown Halloween TV special to life, with him as the star.

“We were watching the (show) and I’m like ‘how cool would it be for you to sit in a pumpkin patch and wait for the Great Pumpkin to come,'" Jennifer said. 

Word quickly spread that she planned to turn the lawn of her Cora St. home into a pumpkin patch for the sake of her diabetic son.

She said friends and neighbors quickly helped out, dropping off several pumpkins at the home.

“They’re all kind of rallying around him,” Anderson said.

Planning to purchase more pumpkins, the family took a trip to Bird’s Big Punk’ns in Romulus. Upon hearing Jack’s story, Jennifer said that the owner, Jeff Bird, refused to take any payment and donated a dozen pumpkins to the Andersons. 

With 58 total pumpkins by Halloween, of all shapes and sizes, the front lawn of the family’s home was full of them as trick-or-treaters began arriving.

A sign reading “Welcome Great Pumpkin” was visible as Jack sat perched up on a small haystack in the middle of the lawn, on what was a cold evening in Wyandotte. He passed out candy to other kids with a smile on his face, showing no signs of sadness, even though he was missing out on trick-or-treating himself.

Clad in a red and black striped shirt, and holding a “security blanket,” he brought the character of Linus to life, often quoting one of the many lines he has memorized from the Peanuts Halloween TV special. 

As the evening was nearing its end, and most trick-or-treaters were done for the night, the 7-year-old said that this year was his best Halloween ever.

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