DUPONT, Wash. — A group of garage truck drivers made one child's day in DuPont on Monday.
Leo Kemper has always loved garbage and recycling trucks. On trash day, he would greet the garbage collection workers, and his mom, Chelsea, even made Leo his own Waste Management truck costume.
Leo has a rare epileptic syndrome and doesn't respond well to medications. He missed the last week of school, and to help cheer him up, his nurse reached out to LeMay Pierce County Refuse.
"She explained to us that his dream is to be able to see a bunch of garbage and recycle trucks and is absolutely crazy about them," said Katie Colvin, LeMay Pierce County Refuse operations supervisor.
The company decided to throw a parade for the boy on his street, and 13 garbage trucks joined.
The family lives on Ridge View Drive, and the garbage trucks came off Interstate 5 at Exit 119. The parade route traveled down McNeil Street before turning on Ridge View to pass in front of the family's house. The trucks honked as they rounded the corner, announcing their arrival.
Workers presented Leo with a superhero mask and cape, gifted him a toy garbage truck and came loaded with candy to give away to Leo and others.
“What we love to do is give back to the community and what a better way to do that than to show up and give him a little parade,” Colvin said.