NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — At just 7, Marcella Francese is not shy to tell you that she is proud of her dad.

“He’s smart, he helps me with stuff and he loves me, my brother and my mom and he loves our neighbor and most of all the neighborhood.”

“It makes me really happy that she thinks of me in that way,” said Dominic Francese.

“I wrote you a letter because I’m proud of my dad because he cleans up the neighborhood every day to make it clean and tidy.”

The family of four moved to Wooster Square from Queens in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic first rocked New York City. Dominic said he’s teaching his young children that no matter where you call home, it’s always important to respect where you live.

And he’s been doing that daily since the fall.

“I like to walk around, and I saw a lot of litter on the streets,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that come in for pizza and drop the pizza boxes or whatever.”

“When other people see him, people say ‘thank you for cleaning up around our house,’” said little Marcella.

Dominic’s kindness has even become contagious.

“I want to make sure I’m cleaning up too with my dad so it’s not like he’s the only hero and I’m doing it too.”

When it comes to the planet, Dominic said he wants other people to “leave it better than you came to it.”