On April 9, 2021, EDA Contractors, Inc. welcomed Nicholas Esposito as its new CEO (Chief Excavating Officer). EDA Contractors President Ed DeAngelis and the EDA staff cheered for 4-year old Nicholas as he drove up to EDA’s Bensalem location. Nicholas’ Construction Day granted Nicholas’s one wish: To be a construction worker, and to see and use construction equipment and machinery. (Scroll down to see photos and watch local coverage.)

Nicholas was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, and went through 16 months of chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Prior to his diagnosis, Nicholas enjoyed helping his father do projects around the house, and loved seeing construction equipment when driving around the city. While at CHOP, he marveled at the construction going on around the hospital, such as at Penn Medicine’s Pavilion. Construction was also a theme in his recovery: To motivate Nicholas to walk again, his parents gave him a toy hammer and had him hammer in nails around the house.

EDA Contractors and Make-A-Wish Foundation Philadelphia, Delaware, and Susquehanna Valley worked together to grant Nicholas’s wish. On Nicholas’ Construction Day, Nicholas experienced a customized day of a construction worker:

  • He received an EDA ID-badge.
  • He attended a safety training and received PPE from EDA Safety Director Jonathan Diaz.
  • He learned about masonry and practiced laying brick.
  • He helped drive and work construction machinery (donated by Diamond Tool, Norris Sales Company, and United Rentals).
  • He moved dirt using the “digger,” his favorite construction machine.
  • He used a crane to lift and move a box off of EDA’s roof. The box contained his very own electric CAT Tractor!
  • He worked with a team, a hallmark of construction work.

 

 

Thank you to everyone at EDA Contractors who worked on Nicholas’ Construction Day! Thank you also to the donors that provided funds, gifts, food, and machinery!

  • APS Supply
  • Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union Local No. 1 – PA/DE
  • Cacia’s Bakery
  • The Cassalia Family
  • Cava Building Supply
  • Church Brick Company
  • CMC Crane
  • Diamond Tool
  • Diener Brick
  • *Fizzano Bros. Concrete Products
  • Fraco Scaffolding
  • Gatti-Morrison Construction Supply
  • General Insulation
  • Krando Metal Products
  • Live! Hotel & Casino Philadelphia
  • Mark Cement
  • *Norris Sales Company
  • P & S Ravioli Company
  • The Patitucci Family
  • Philly Pretzel Factory – Bensalem location
  • Rodriguez Construction Services
  • Sand Dune Motel – Wildwood Crest, NJ
  • Scaffolding Today, Inc.
  • Spec Mix
  • *United Rentals
  • WSFS Bank – 21st and Passyunk Branch

*GBCA Member

 

Read more about Nicholas’ Construction Day:

READ MORE

 

Watch local coverage of Nicholas’ Construction Day:

NBC10

 

6abc

 

Bucks County Courier Times

 

CBS3