An Alabama man has finally achieved his goal and successfully traveled the entire country, mowing the lawns of veterans for free in all 50 states, Fox News reported.
Rodney Smith Jr., 29, said he was first inspired to start his tour four years ago after witnessing an elderly veteran attempting to mow his own lawn with much difficulty.
Starting in Alabama in 2018, Smith set out to help veterans with their lawn care all across the country.
He started the “Raising Men Lawn Care Service”, which provides lawn care to those in need. Smith doesn’t just help out veterans, though. He also mowed lawns for the elderly, the disabled, and single mothers, essentially offering his service to anyone who needed it most.
Around the time Smith had hit 48 states, he realized he had come to a bit of a roadblock.
Up until that point, he had spent his time traveling from state to state in a car. But reaching Hawaii and Alaska proved to be a problem.
It was at this time, too, that his story and his services really went viral, with news media outlets around the country broadcasting his travels.
After learning about his travel issue, Delta Airlines stepped in and offered their services.
On June 8, Smith took to his Twitter account to announce to his over 80,000 followers that the airline had reached out to him and offered to cover his travel expenses for the remainder of his trip, thus allowing him to reach both Hawaii and Alaska and complete his cross-country tour of good deeds.
First, Smith flew to Anchorage, Alaska, where he successfully mowed the lawns of three veterans.
Then, he flew to Honolulu, Hawaii, and completed his mission, having fulfilled his goal and his dream of helping out veterans in all 50 states of America.
“I’ve come across so many veterans that are struggling to get their lawn mowed,” he told ABC News . “If they served for our country, we should step up for them.”
“This is the least we can do,” he added. “This is the last thing they need to worry about.”
To celebrate all he had accomplished, Smith re-shared his original message detailing the inspiration for his tour.
Reflecting on the day he saw the man struggling to mow his own lawn back in 2015, Smith said, “Even before this even happened I remember asking God to use me as his vessel. He din’t give me an answer the day that I asked him, not a month later, not even a year later.”
“It happened a few years later and this would be that day.”
Smith’s good deeds aren’t just going to end now that he’s completed his cross-country tour.
In addition to his lawn care service, he also runs a “50 Lawn Challenge” project where he encourages children to mow 50 lawns in their neighborhood for anyone who may not be able to do it themselves.
RELATED STORIES
Now the youth of America have been challenged to carry on Smith’s legacy and help out people in their own communities.
As for what’s next for Smith, he’s got some pretty big plans, and they all involve his trusty lawnmower, “G.I. Moe.”
In fact, he’s taking his lawn care service international.
“Planning my ‘7 Continents 7 lawns’ tour, which I was supposed to do this summer, but decided to do the Veterans tour,” he told Fox News. “I have a few other mowing projects I am working on, but finalizing them. But my next big one will be mowing on all 7 continents for the elderly, disabled, single moms and veterans.”
Smith estimates that since 2015, he’s mowed over 2,500 lawns throughout the country.
He told ABC News that he feels like he has finally found what he is meant to do: “My true purpose in life is helping people.”
