CENTRAL SAANICH -- Ben is sitting on a picnic table with his lunch, singing a song about a "lovely cheeseburger." But Ben is not eating a cheeseburger. The 22-year-old man says today's lunch choice is a "bandito burger."

I ask why. He answers: "Because I was dressed up like a cowboy!" Although he's wearing a Yankees baseball cap during his lunch break, when he's working he is wearing a black Stetson hat.

Ben's boss says it's unusual. "He's always singing and acting," Adriana explains with a smile. "He's very fun to be around!"

Ben is also loyal. When I ask what he does at Adriana's The Whole Enchilada restaurant, he answers matter-of-factly: "I'm not telling you the ingredients because it's Adriana's secret recipe."

He does reveal that when he's not working he's writing his own songs. "So far, millions of them," he proclaims with a beaming smile.

Ben says his favourite song is about a school band that features guitars, violins, and ukuleles – but bans banjos. "Michael you're expelled for playing the banjo!" he sings. "Michael you're expelled no matter what." Ben performs the catchy chorus with an infectious enthusiasm.

Ben's mom, Kristina, says her son didn't start talking until he was five. After that, he never stopped entertaining – or swimming.

"Since I was a little kid, I love to go in the water," Ben says. "And go down water slides!"

The pool is one thing. The ocean is another. And then there's the waters of the Great Bear Rainforest near Bella Bella.

There's video of Ben from up there, revealing how he's feeling. "I'm just afraid right now," he says. "It's the first time I've ever done this."

Ben is talking about the time he and a group of five other Special Olympians, called the Spirit Orcas, attempted a 25-kilometre relay race in the area's Gunboat Passage. "Sometimes I'm afraid of sea creatures coming to eat me," Ben admitted before the swim.

But when it came to actually doing it, despite swimming in the fast-moving water for almost an hour and a half, his coach Susan Simmons says Ben was "fearless."

Simmons is an acclaimed long-distance swimmer. She shows me video of Ben in the midst of the last leg of the relay. He couldn't be more focused. "It’s the perseverance to not give up," Ben says.

And when it felt too hard, or too cold, Ben says he would listen for the encouragement of his team. Then he would sing the lyrics to one of his millions of songs. When you look at the video of him swimming you can imagine him singing, "Michael you're expelled for playing the banjo!"

It worked. The Spirit Orcas accomplished their goal. And Ben hopes it, like his songs, will help accomplish his greater mission to make the world a happier place.

"I make good spirit to the world," Ben says sincerely. "I bring in good joy."