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A community servant on wheels

By Amanda Palleschi
Published April 13, 2007

Benjamin Carpenter knocks a soccer ball around the cars parked at his Brandon apartment complex. He leans backward to gain momentum. He lets go of a joystick and aims the metal guard attached to the front of his wheelchair at the ball, delivering a powerful shot.

"Be careful. Don't kick it under all the cars," his mom, Tari Carpenter, said.

Ben and the metal guard can stop the ball from straying too far, but the chair hasn't stopped Ben on his way to national awards, world travels and a perfect school attendance record.

Ben, who has muscular dystrophy, is one of 27 kids around the country recently named the "Very Best in Youth" by Nestl USA for his academic and community service achievements. The sixth-grader juggles Advanced Placement and honors classes at Williams Middle School in Tampa with practices for the Tampa Thunder wheelchair soccer team and various service projects, including serving as a Patient Ambassador for Tampa Shriners Hospital.

He loves to travel and play sports. He's a student coach for Williams' football team and conducts clinics throughout Florida with the Tampa Thunder to teach others about power soccer, a sport played with wheelchairs instead of spiked shoes.

He's been to Washington, D.C., to get an award from AAA for his work as a school safety patrol officer. In December, he traveled to Tokyo with his parents courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Get him talking about famous ships, or his dog, Maggie, though, and Ben's green eyes really widen.

Ben, 12, became fascinated with the Titanic when he picked up a book on famous ships in third grade. In 2004, he greeted guests at The Museum of Science and Industry's Titanic exhibit.

"I dressed up as the captain of the Titanic. Maggie was dressed as the iceberg," Ben said.

Maggie is Ben's 5-year-old black Labrador retriever. Together, the two taught students at Ben's elementary school about dogs like Maggie.

"She's not a pet," Ben said to his peers. "She's a service dog."

Maggie pushes the button on the automatic doors at the mall, opens the refrigerator, and helps Ben up if he falls down.

But when it comes to scoring goals, Maggie stays on the sidelines and leaves the real work to Ben.

Amanda Palleschi can be reached at 661-2456 or apalleschi@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 12, 2007, 07:46:20]