Raising Men Lawn Care

The Edwards family in Laredo, Texas, started a new family tradition about two years ago: mowing lawns free of charge on weekends for families in need.

The family of seven goes out to the Laredo community with mowers, weed eaters and blowers most Saturdays and Sundays to perform maintenance jobs for elderly or disabled people, veterans and single mothers. Charles Edwards, a firefighter in Laredo, says even their youngest daughter who is 4 years old helps by picking up debris or pushing a mower with mom or dad. Since 2016, he says the family has performed free lawn maintenance on at least 200 lawns.

“We’ve kind of lost count,” he says.

Edwards says his family was inspired to give back to their community in this way after seeing a post on social media by Rodney Smith Jr., founder of Raising Men Lawn Care Service, about a 50 Yard Challenge. Smith regularly posts about this challenge, which encourages kids across the U.S. to mow 50 lawns for people in need for free. Kids who complete the challenge receive a free lawn mower and T-shirt from Raising Men Lawn Care, which is a nonprofit in Huntsville, Alabama.

“It sounded like a great idea,” Edwards says. “It was pretty easy to get our kids involved in it, and it was a great service. This small service benefits people, especially the elderly, who have problems mowing lawns.”