A short visit from the garbage collectors was all it took to make 11-year-old Nick Antunes' day.

"He always says he wants to be a garbage man," Nick's mother, Carolyn Antunes, said. "He asked for a garbage truck for Christmas. He even sorts the garbage and recycling at home."Antunes was thrilled to see the J.P. Mascaro truck roll up to his Albrightsville home on Monday morning, but he couldn't have expected that the waste workers were coming with gifts for him."We happened to be in the garage," Antunes said. "When they arrived, he went bananas, he ran up to the truck. It was overwhelming for him, but he loved it,"A fan of big vehicles, Antunes had told one of his teachers, Donna Getz, about his love of the Mascaro trucks in particular."Nick's teacher, Donna Getz from Panther Valley, chimed in through our website and asked if we could send a hat or something," said Frank Sau, director of communications for the company. "What we did in return, we compiled a gift bag with a jacket, a couple T-shirts, a hat, and some more items."Much to the Mascaro crew's delight, Antunes was already sporting some of their swag: a company T-shirt.Driver Don Carrow, helper Patrick Staley, and Scott Murray gave Antunes a tour of the truck, let him load a few bags, and showed him how the compacting mechanism worked. He even got a chance to work some of the levers in the truck."I really couldn't believe that a company would take the time out for something like that," Antunes said. "When it comes to children with autism, not a lot of companies reach out to them."Sau said the guys were happy to stop by and hang out with Nick, as they love to foster a familiarity and friendship with area residents."It makes it nice when you're living in a community where you know who your service providers are," Sau said.By all accounts, a 15-minute visit made for a landmark day, one that Nick will always remember. After all, he has the jacket to remind him."He's been wearing it every single day since then, along with the hat," Antunes said with a laugh.