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Founder of Lawn Service Non-Profit Hopes to Mark America's 250th by Cutting White House Grass

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  June 26, 2026 8:30 AM

A decade ago, Rodney Smith, Jr. started the Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service in Huntsville, Alabama. Smith had a simple vision: create a non-profit that helped the elderly, disabled, veterans, and single parents. His initial goal was 100 lawns. The success of that program led Smith to create the '50 Yard Challenge,' encouraging boys and girls to sign up and cut the lawns of 50 people in need.

Ten years and thousands of yards later, Smith has a big dream: to cut the White House lawn for America's 250th anniversary.

The post reads:

Dear @WhiteHouse, my name is Rodney Smith Jr., founder of Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service in Huntsville, Alabama. Through our 50 Yard Challenge, over 6,000 kids across the country have signed up to mow free lawns for the elderly, disabled, veterans, active-duty military, first responders, and single parents. With America celebrating its 250th birthday this year and me also being born on July 4th, I wanted to humbly ask if a few kids from our program and myself could travel to Washington, D.C. to help mow the White House lawn for this historic celebration.

More than anything, I want these kids to see how a simple act of service something as ordinary as mowing a lawn for someone in need can lead to extraordinary places. What better lesson in community service than showing them that helping others can take them all the way to our nation’s capital? I’d also love to bring my American flag-themed mower in hopes that the President might sign it, so I can later auction it off and donate 100% of the proceeds to a nonprofit supporting veterans. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to highlight the importance of service, patriotism, and the impact young people can have when they choose to make a difference.

The feedback has been nothing but positive.

That's amazing.

CBS News also picked up the story.

Smith also sat down with the RSBN Network and said he had been in private contact with someone at the White House about this, and hoping to get President Trump to sign a lawnmower he can auction off, with the proceeds going to a veteran's organization.