- Back in 2015,
I came across an elderly man
outside mowing his lawn.
He looked like he was struggling,
so I pulled over and helped him out.
And that night I decided
I would start mowing free lawns
for the elderly, disabled, single parents, and veterans.
That's when I came up with the idea of
Raising Men Lawn Care service.
(lawn mower engine roaring)
Since starting the program
I believe I have mowed over 2,000 lawns.
I wanna make people more aware of the organization
and encourage kids to take part in our 50 Yard Challenge.
The 50 Yard Challenge is a challenge
that we have issued to kids nationwide,
and even worldwide,
to mow 50 free lawns in their community.
- [Female Speaker] Oh my God,
I'm so proud of you!
(woman cheers)
- [Rodney] Today we have over 500 kids nationwide
taking part in the challenge.
We're trying to encourage both boys and girls
to get out there and make a difference one lawn at a time.
(audience cheering)
- All right y'all, please welcome Rodney Smith!
(audience cheers and applauds)
So Rodney,
first of all, thank you so much for being a positive change.
Like just a beautiful domino effect,
it's really, really awesome what you're doing.
- [Rodney] I appreciate it.
- But why is this so important to you?
- I believe it's my calling.
When I first came out of high school,
I went to a school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
and God just told me, you know,
I asked him what I wanted to do and he led me this way
and I've been doing it ever since.
I'm just trying to encourage kids to get out there
and make a difference one lawn at a time
and give back to their community
because I believe it's important.
In this day and age,
a lot of kids are inside playing video games.
So I'm trying to encourage them with a lawnmower
to get out there and make a difference
one lawn at a time.
(audience applauding)
- [Kelly Clarkson] Yes!
I love that you're, you know,
in essence, teaching kids selflessness.
Like you're doing something,
you don't get anything out of it
except for just knowing that you've helped somebody.
And I think that's a beautiful thing
that we all need to learn, when we're young, especially.
That's really cool.
(audience applauds)
- It really is, 'cause I remember
when I was young I disliked mowing lawns.
But God took something I disliked
and turned it into something now I love to do
and I'm doing it every single day for free.
- That's so cool, look at that.
- [Rodney] Yeah.
- Look at life, I love life like that.
So what do you think of Rodney's mission?
Like--
- I think it's incredible.
I think it's incredible.
Here's the thing though,
as I was talking about earlier.
About the good that you put out comes back to you.
So even though you're out there doing it
and you're encouraging everybody else to do it,
the beauty of it is
as much positivity as you're putting out,
look forward in your life.
Listen here,
here is the problem I had though.
I didn't know how to feel worthy enough
to accept it when it came back.
So as it comes back to you and into your life
be open to it.
- That is so true.
'Cause so much guilt comes with it.
- [Tyler] Yes.
- So much guilt.
- With success, you mean? - Yes.
- [Tyler] Yeah with having success, for sure.
- Yes.
- But what you're doing,
expect good to come back, bro.
I think it's wonderful, I really do.
(audience cheers and applauds)
- So how does the challenge work?
- So The 50 Yard Challenge
is the challenge that we have issued to kids nationwide,
and even worldwide, to mow 50 free lawns in their community.
So let's say you had a kid here in L.A.
that accepted the 50 Yard Challenge.
They would make a sign saying,
"I accept the 50 yard challenge"
and in return we send them
a white Raising Men or Raising Women's T-Shirt,
along with shades and ear protection.
Once they mow 10 lawns,
they get an orange shirt.
20, a green.
30, a blue.
40 a red--
- [Kelly Clarkson] It's like karate.
- [Rodney Smith] Exactly. (audience laughs)
- You're mowing lawns.
- You're working for that black one.
- You're cutting on lawns.
- Yes! I love it!
- And once you mow 50,
I drive to wherever they are in the United States of America
and also present them a brand new mower,
weed eater, and blower.
- That's so cool.
(audience cheering)
Here's the thing I love about that as well.
Like, as a kid who came from nothing,
like I mean it's an important thing
to have a lawnmower for a family
and some people can't afford lawnmowers.
So it's like,
even the fact that they can work towards that
and then get that for their family,
that's a really cool thing you're doing.
You're just a really cool individual.
- Thank you.
Like, just spreading kindness and goodness.
It's really cool.
But which homeowner story,
cause I know there's got to be a lot of people
that you've met that have just changed you,
but which one kind of sticks out do you think?
- Yeah so I've traveled
to all 50 states seven times
and one particular tour I've done for the veterans
is called Thank You For Your Service.
So I run to all 50 states
thanking veterans for their service.
And I came across this veteran who was a medic in Vietnam.
He has five purple hearts.
- [Kelly] What?
- Five purple hearts.
He has a silver star and a bronze star.
And he told me so much stories.
He felt guilty because so many young people
died in his arms.
And he felt like it was his fault
and it took a little while for him to get over that.
But stories like that,
just hearing from our veterans
and it's just amazing what they went through
and what they overcame and how they overcame it, you know?
- I know we start thinking
about our problems that we think are problems.
And you're like, "That's a real problem."
- [Rodney] Yeah.
- Yeah that's heavy.
- It is.
(audience applauding)
- So Dante, what made you sign up for the challenge?
- So my step mom saw Rodney on Facebook
and so she thought it was a really awesome thing
that he was doing and so she sent me one of his posts
and was like, "Hey, you should consider doing this."
At first I wasn't gonna do it because I needed to make money
from this summer mowing because I wanted to
start a lawn service this summer.
- Yeah.
- So originally my plan was not to do it
because I needed that money.
But I brought it to my mom
because I wanted to talk with her about it
and so we started talking about it
and she brought up the point
that I'm sowing seeds into the community
that means more than the money that--
- [Kelly Clarkson] I love your mom.
(audience applauds)
- Wow.
- It means more than the money
that I'd be earning from that summer
- Yeah.
- It is seeds that I'm sowing into that community
and it was so awesome to like get that confirmation
and that reassurance that I should be doing this.
- You have a very smart mama.
- Yeah she is.
- Very smart and kind mamma.
Oh my gosh.
Well Alana, how far into the challenge are you?
- I have done 13 yards already.
- [Kelly] Right on.
(audience cheers and applauds)
Good job.
- I have helped elderly, disabled and veterans.
- [Kelly] Wow, that's really cool.
- One of the people that stands out to me
is one of my mom's friends, Jeremy,
because he's disabled.
He had a stroke and half of his body doesn't work anymore
so he can't do as much as he used to.
So I've helped him with a lot of that.
- Hey man, that's so cool.
(audience applauding)
You truly are sowing those seeds into the community
and that comes back on y'all.
Not that you're doing it
because you want anything to come back on you
but it will.
I can't wait to meet y'all in like 10 years again
and see where you're at like as humans
cause you're starting off so just fresh
and fun and beautiful.
It's really cool what y'all are doing--
- [Tyler] And do you do stuck up rich people's yards too?
(audience laughing)
'cause I got about 1200 acres in Georgia--
(laughter drowns out speech)
- [Kelly That's not a push mower,
that's like a John Deere.
- That's a tractor, a tractor.
Yeah, a John Deere.
- You need a ride for that one.
- [Tyler Perry] Yeah that's right, that's right.
- It was like I was pushing.
We had like a () lawn.
How many recruits do you have here in L.A., Rodney?
- We don't have that many in L.A.,
but nationwide we have about 500 kids
and we have two in Canada,
seven in Bermuda and England,
three in Australia, and two in Germany
that are taking part in The 50 Yard Challenge.
- Wow.
(audience applauding)
- Catching fire.
Yeah.
- Once one act of kindness grew into all of this
- And I never would expect it would grow
into all of this, you know?
It's just-- - Yeah
...amazing.
- I just want to make sure I'm clear on this.
So what you do is, you're challenging kids.
- [Rodney] Yep.
- To mow 50 yards of people who are disabled--
- So the elderly, disabled, single parents
and veterans
and it's not just-- - Wait.
Elderly, disabled, single parents, and veterans.
- [Rodney] Yes.
- For free? - For free.
- That is amazing.
- And it's not just mowing lawns.
(audience applauds)
- It's also raking leaves. - Yeah.
- Raking leaves and snow shoveling in the fall and winter.
- Oh that's wonderful.
- So it's a year-round thing.
And we can--
- Oh that's real!
(audience applauding)
Snow shoveling in the winter, yeah.
That is some heavy duty work, yeah.
Well the L.A. situation, it's all about to change
because come on out guys!
(audience cheering)
(inspiring music)
- [Kelly Clarkson] Yeah.
(audience applauding)
- [Rodney] That's a lot of kids.
These are,
these kids from all over Los Angeles.
Okay, they've all been inspired by Rodney.
They want to sign up to do The 50 Yard Challenge.
Let's hear from a couple of 'em.
And y'all aren't too small,
I started young so you got this.
Okay so, why are you accepting the challenge?
Who wants to talk?
Anybody wanna talk?
You, she got her hand too.
Okay you go ahead first, What was your name?
- Leah.
- [Kelly Clarkson] Leah okay.
Leah what--
- It's because I think girls can do stuff like boys cause--
- Yes girl!
(audience cheering)
- [Leah] And--
(audience applauding)
And also,
I would like to help out
all the people that are getting older because they need help
and I think it would just be really helpful.
- That's so beautiful.
(audience applauding)
How does this make you feel Rodney?
Look at all these kids.
- It's really bringing me to tears
just to hear the stories.
- [Kelly] I know, you're bringing me to tears.
- I mean, I woulda never woulda thought this would happen.
You know?
When I first started
I was just helping someone out in Huntsville, Alabama
and now it's growing to all this.
Now kids nationwide are taking...
I woulda never thought.
- You know what?
It's positive ripples man.
Those ripples they're gonna go and go, go.
Especially with the internet now.
Look at...
You're touching people in Australia.
Where else did you say, Bermuda?
- Bermuda, that's where I'm originally from.
- Okay the islands, yeah.
I'm just saying
that's a really, really cool thing--
- It is, yes.
- that you're touching that many people across the world.
And look at these little young faces.
- [Rodney] Yeah so--
- You're making an impression on them.
- I'll be back in California soon
when they complete it.
- [Kelly Clarkson] Yes. (audience applauding)