Richmond carrier celebrates eight years

A Richmond resident will be celebrating his eighth year as a newspaper carrier on Carrier Appreciation Day on Oct. 12.

Teaghan Collins started off his job as a carrier for the Richmond Review before switching over to the News when the Review stopped publishing.

He accepted the role of a newspaper carrier when his brother passed it on to a friend, who in turn handed the job to him in 2011.

Since then, he has been delivering the papers to the community – a total of eight years and counting.

The 23-year-old enjoys his job because he is able to count in the exercise he gets each week and looks forward to seeing his neighbours and their pets during his stops.

“(Being a carrier) means that I have a job and I get a paycheque to save up for my trips to Disneyland,” said Collins, adding that meeting people he delivers to motivates him every week.

The most difficult part of the job is to battle the combination of wet and windy weather, which Richmond is starting to see, he added.

“(I) was nervous to be sure for me to have him out and about without someone with him,” said Pam Collins, Teaghan’s mother.

They would do the route together in the beginning while adding an introduction page with their first delivery to let all the homes know he is the new carrier in the area.

The both of them wanted to let neighbours know and understand that because of Teaghan’s autism, he might not want to make eye contact, but that he still wants to say hi to everyone during his route.

“He is well-loved by everyone he delivers to,” Pam added.

After Teaghan became comfortable with his route and had met all his neighbours, Pam felt reassured to let him do the route independently.

Teaghan does his route with excitement and dedication each week, which allows him to achieve a great sense of independence, belonging and community according to his mother.

In his spare time, Teaghan can be found playing basketball, watching movies, going to the library and singing in the choir.

His adoration for Disneyland has made it his dream to work as a cast member for the theme park, however, if that plan falls through Teaghan is more than excited to be a teacher as long as he can be himself.