Kyle Dellaquila spent several hours cleaning up trash at Twin Lakes last week
Kyle Dellaquila is five years old, but he’ll be six next week. He loves to camp, fish, and enjoys the outdoors, which is why one of his family’s favorite spots is Twin Lakes. As a big fan of the outdoors, Kyle has another favorite activity at Twin Lakes: picking up litter.
“That little man wanted to do it on his own,” said Laura Finaki, president of the Twin Lakes Recreation Board of Directors. As a completely volunteer-led organiza
tion, Twin Lakes depends on willing hands to keep it functional, as well as nice to look at. Fortunately, Kyle decided he wanted to spend a day this spring picking up litter there. “We were out there for three hours, and he was running up and down those hills, digging in ditches.” Finaki said Kyle was so dedicated to his task that he had her tape a pair of adult gloves to his wrists because he couldn’t find any in his size.
As for what prompted Kyle's altruistic streak, his father John Dellaquila says there are a lot of factors. First of all, said John, “he’s just a really really good kid.” Beyond that, John attributes Kyle’s passion for the cleanup effort to the fact that picking up litter is a family activity for them anywhere they spend time.
“Wherever we’re camping,” said John, “the whole family will always go out and pick up trash together. It’s just something we’ve always done.” According to John, Kyle and his siblings have grown up hearing the message from him, and especially from his wife, that littering is not cool.
That’s probably the reason Kyle wasn’t sure how to explain what made him want to clean up the area. “I just like it there,” said Kyle, and he wants it to be nice for everyone. There were a few weird finds among the wrappers and other litter, said Kyle. Aside from “a lot of beer cans,” Kyle also found a full can of bait along the water’s edge. If he saw a friend littering, Kyle said, he would tell that person to “stop it” and not just look the other way. For Kyle, litter control is everyone’s business.
“He’s amazing,” said Finaki. “He’s a superhero.” To underscore that last point, Finaki had a tee-shirt made for Kyle that lets everyone know he’s the Twin Lakes Superhero. And she’s not the only person showing her appreciation. Finaki said that, after she posted the story to the Friends of Twin Lakes Facebook page, she got more comments thanking him than she’s ever had on a post.
So, while Kyle is “pretty excited about all the publicity,” according to John, it looks like a lot of people who share his appreciation for Twin Lakes feel it’s well-deserved. On top of the hours spent cleaning up, John said, Kyle also helped catch about ten trout and “fed his whole family for dinner that night.”