12-year-old Logan Pearson of Andover, Mass. was able to celebrate his birthday with the help of University of Massachusetts Boston’s Public Safety and several other police departments.

Logan cannot speak and has not had any non-family members to celebrate his birthday with. This year, however, his mom wanted to make his birthday a special one.

According to the Eagle Tribune, Catherine Pearson wrote on Facebook, “This year, I want to stop feeling downright upset that my son is aging into a young man under a blanket of autism.” She furthered, “I want to CELEBRATE him and ENJOY his day.”

Officer Stephen Bikofsky of the Cambridge Police Department heard of Pearson’s goal and helped make Pearson’s birthday different in hope of making it better than past experiences.

After coordinating with Andover Police, Bikofsky sent out an email to various law enforcement officials he knew, asking if they would like to submit cards to give to Pearson.
One of the officers who Bikofsky enlisted the help of was Sergeant William Ryerson of UMass Boston’s Public Safety Department. Through the outreach to Ryerson several members of the UMass Boston Public Safety staff also reached out and signed a poster for Pearson.
Bikofsky mentioned that “This event was a collaborative effort of all people involved, everyone I spoke with wanted to help, wanted to send a card, or a gift or attend.”
He furthered it by saying, “Each and every police officer that attended has been touched one way or another by a person with special needs. This small act of kindness for this family made a huge difference.”
Bikofsky was able to coordinate a police escort for the Pearson family to a restaurant where a party was to be held in honor of Logan. Bikofsky shared, “75 to 100 officers attended the party and as I can best describe the memory’s image as a ‘sea of blue.’” Additionally, not only did officers from 10 different departments attend, so did many of their families. 

“Logan had a grin on his face and a smile from ear to ear all day,” said Bikofsky. The Pearson family was “very grateful and humbled by the act of kindness from all that took the time to attend Logan’s party.”