LawnGrips Donates Footwear to New Orleans Volunteers

The City Park Mow-Rons, a volunteer organization that focuses on cutting grass in New Orleans’ City Park, is doing it with greater safety and more comfort thanks to a recent donation of LawnGrips footwear from LawnGrips.

LawnGrips footwear is specifically designed to meet the needs of lawn care professionals and home gardeners, and the Lake Oswego, Ore. company donated the shoes after learning that the volunteers were cutting the grass wearing sneakers.

“Sneakers are not really safe to wear when you are pushing around a heavy lawn mower with sharp cutting blades that are rotating at high speeds only 12 inches from your feet,” says LawnGrips President Russ Stark. “A ratty old pair of sneakers offers minimal traction and no protection should the mower or blade hit your foot,” adds Stark, who founded the firm after learning that mowing accidents result in over 70,000 visits to emergency rooms annually in the United States alone.

The Mow-Rons came about one day in July 2006 when attorney Scott Discon was driving through the park and noticed that the grass badly needed cutting. The privately funded City Park, which covers more than 1,300 acres at Wisner Boulevard and LeLong Drive in New Orleans, does not have sufficient resources to properly maintain the grounds, so Scott decided to get out of his car and pull out some weeds. He started doing it on a weekly basis and was joined shortly by a friend, Ian Dreyer, who also solicited the help of a fellow architect, Kristine Kobila. 

The group of volunteers, which now includes seven core members, goes out and uses as many as 12 push mowers and two riding mowers to cut grass every Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  In addition to Scott, the President; Kristine, Vice President, and Ian, Treasurer, the Mow-Rons Board includes Merry Antoon, Fundraising Coordinator, and Jack McShane, Jr. President/Tech.

LawnGrips footwear are made using high-quality materials and construction and feature the patented Grip-N-Go outsole based on a soccer shoe design for maximum forward and lateral traction, even on wet grass. The cleats and pivot points also are slightly rounded to shed grass clippings and dirt. 

To find a LawnGrips dealer, call 877-447-4771.