two 11-year-olds, founders of TJ & JT Mowing Service, completed a 50 Yard Challenge in Alabama, to mow 50 yards for the elderly, veterans, and people unable to care for their lawns for free.

Rodney Smith Jr., of Huntsville, Alabama, known as “The Lawnmower Man,” had been told of two klds sharing an old lawnmower that a neighbor had donated to them.

He gave both teens a mower, a blower, and a trimmer for their hard work, hoping they would use their new equipment to expand their business. “Giving these boys lawn equipment is teaching them discipline,” Smith said. “If they tell someone they are going to mow a lawn, they need to mow the lawn.” he added. “This could be the beginning of a successful lawn service.”

Smith’s commitment to caring for people’s lawns began in 2015, and the following year he went viral for helping a 93-year-old woman who could no longer mow her lawn. Smith had set a bold goal of mowing lawns for free in all 50 states. His goal was to promote his initiative that “provides free lawn care to our elders, those who are disabled, single mothers, and our veterans, who do not have the time, resources, and/or money to manicure their yards.”

As part of this goal, he created the 50 Yard Challenge, which has been a smashing success.

As of mid-2026, more than 6,000 pre-teens and teens have signed up for the challenge across the United States, up from 4,588 in May 2023. If everyone completes it, the total number of lawns mowed for free by Smith’s Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service will reach well over 300,000.

Kids and teens can take part in the challenge by sending them a photo holding up a sign that says, “I accept the 50 Yard Challenge,”

After completing the challenge, the child or teen will receive a mower, a blower, and a trimmer

https://www.upworthy.com/50-lawnmower-man-challenge-ex1/

Standing ovation for Clarenton 'Nicky' Crawford

He read a story in 2020 that stayed with him long after he finished it. 

In the article, a man had been distributing hotel soaps and shampoos to people experiencing homelessness. About an hour later, one of the recipients returned the items. He appreciated the kindness—but he had nowhere to shower, so the supplies were useless.

The story lingered in Crawford’s mind. After spending decades working in construction, he was now retired and living in Stone Mountain. He had time, resources, and a growing sense that he should do something to help. “I thought, ‘Do I buy them food or give them money?’” Crawford later said. “I just wanted to do something to help others.”

In 2021, he began forming a plan. On February 2, 2022, he used his own money to purchase a three-stall mobile shower trailer. The next challenge was finding a place to operate it.

In Atlanta, 2,000 people sleep on the streets at night, according to the Atlanta Mission. Georgia's capital city is home to over a quarter of the state's homeless population of nearly 10,000, according to the organization.

Within a week, a friend connected him with Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, which agreed to let him test the idea outside its emergency department. On the first day, four people stopped by for showers.

By the following week, attendance had doubled. Word spread quickly, and the hospital eventually allowed the service to remain there permanently.

“At first I thought if we ever reached 30 showers a day, that would be huge,” Crawford said. “At one point, we were doing about 60.”

That effort became a nonprofit called Flowing with Blessings.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Crawford and his volunteers wake up around 4:30 a.m. and drive to Grady with their mobile setup: the shower trailer equipped with sinks, toilets, and private bathing stalls. Later, they added something new—a converted yellow school bus designed as a mobile laundromat.

The “Wash Bus,” launched in June 2024, came from a realization. Many people would shower, only to put the same dirty clothes back on afterward.

“What we're trying to do is get them clothes they can have for the week so they can change clothes,” Crawford explained. “Because a lot of times it's not them that smell, it's the clothes.”

He bought the school bus but needed help designing it. So he reached out to Georgia Institute of Technology. A group of industrial design students took on the challenge, figuring out how to fit multiple washers and dryers into the bus to create a functioning laundromat on wheels. Crawford brought the vision; the students helped turn it into reality.

Today, Flowing with Blessings typically serves 50 to 60 people each time it operates and has assisted more than 4,500 individuals since it began. Beyond showers and laundry, volunteers also provide towels, socks, undergarments, haircuts, hot meals, and clean clothing. The program works alongside churches, hospitals, police departments, and thrift stores, and every shower stall is sanitized after each use.

Much of the day-to-day work is now managed by Crawford’s daughter, Christina Moss. She hadn’t originally planned to be involved—she was focused on a career in real estate after leaving her father’s construction business. “I just came in one day and I’ve been coming back ever since,” she said. “It opened up a passion that I didn’t know I had.”

The organization now includes about ten volunteers, many of them young adults. Some people who once relied on the service have since gotten back on their feet and still stop by just to say hello.

Crawford remembers one older man who broke down in tears after Moss addressed him as “Mr.” He said he couldn’t remember the last time someone had shown him that level of respect.

“They are my validation that what I heard God tell me to do was right,” Crawford said. “They don’t have to tell me ‘Thank you.’ I can tell them, ‘Thank you.’”

When people ask why a retired man would wake up at 4:30 every morning to set up showers outside a hospital, Crawford keeps his answer simple.

“I have always had a love for people who were less fortunate because, other than the grace of God, this could be me.”

He adds: “I don’t know them at first. I learn their names over time because they come back. But it doesn’t matter. They’re still human.”

Atlanta is home to more than a quarter of Georgia’s homeless population—nearly 10,000 people statewide—and the city’s unhoused population has grown significantly in recent years. Crawford knows his effort alone cannot solve the crisis.

But he can make sure that when someone leaves his trailer on a Tuesday morning, they walk away with a clean load of laundry, a warm shower, and a chance to feel like they matter.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1630759579090786&set=a.556650053168416
https://www.flowingwithblessings.org/our-founder

https://www.theatlantavoice.com/local-news/atlantas-mr-clean-nicky-crawford-is-here-to-help-4298a463

https://josephgroup.com/treating-people-with-dignity/

In another historic first, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will take to the rails this November for a limited holiday tour in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Nov. 21 from Cheyenne to Denver, it's first-ever holiday tour (thank you George!)

The public is being offered a rare chance to purchase tickets for the holiday tour and ride in vintage passenger cars pulled by Big Boy as it travels from Cheyenne to Denver. 

 The trip will support the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and include a donation from Union Pacific’s Community Ties Giving Program. 

Ticket sales for patrons of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum will begin Oct. 16. Any remaining tickets will be available to the general public Oct. 19.

https://www.up.com/press-releases/heritage-steam/big-boy-holiday-tour-260917

when at Comic Con, stop by to see the latest from Magic Wheelchair (I do every year) and drop in a donation

your feel good story for the week - James Blair, a U.S. Navy veteran who has spent the last two decades working at John Wayne Airport, was seen limping across the airport tarmac

plans to continue working, as he has for as long as he can remember, so that he can pay for his 90-year-old mother's hospice care.

 He was recorded limping, visibly struggling, by a woman traveler who knew that someone in that position shouldn't have to continue putting so much wear on themselves. 

 So she started a fund raiser, and the GoFundMe raised more than $170,000 for him

 https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/john-wayne-airport-employee-go-fund-me-fundraiser-mother-hospice-care/

Posted because it's awesome, it's charity, and it's an airport. I post all three of those things

Ford and rugged clothing brand Carhartt (Carhartt has produced apparel for Ford factory workers dating all the way back to the 1920s) announced a new partnership, one aspect of that is the Detroit ToolBank which will loan out equipment nonprofits, community groups, and schools to support neighborhood projects, disaster response, and workforce training.

Ford and Carhartt are supporting the project by creating a $25,000 "Re-Tooling Detroit" start-up fund, which covers lending fees for the Toolbank's initial community projects. Nearly 200 volunteers from Ford and Carhartt gathered at Belle Isle for National Volunteer Week, too. Using brand-new tools and custom wood kits provided by Detroit ToolBank, the team spent the day assembling picnic tables and Adirondack chairs that will remain in the park to serve the community for years to come.

https://fordauthority.com/2026/04/ford-partners-with-carhartt-to-open-detroit-toolbank/

Seriously, the site chosen to fix up was the wealthiest park in the broken down bankrupt city? The orphanages, juvie halls, prisons, homes for unwed mothers, Becky's House, homeless shelters, etc weren't in need?  

Belle Isle Park (982 acres) is the most notable, expansive, city-owned island park featuring historical infrastructure

It's got to be similar to doing charity work in a park on Coronado Island in the middle of San Diego Bay, or off the coast on Catalina Island.. or some other millionaire's neighborhood. 

I bet it's not going to matter to anyone if a corporation does charity work for the free publicity, the tax write off, or the virtue signaling... as long as the charity is a kids or pets type. So, in that context, it's still cool that the Boys and Girls Club benefits!

Bridgestone held a block party at Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee’s Andrew Jackson Clubhouse in Nashville, where the company surprised Club kids and families with a new passenger van and a $100,000 unrestricted operation grant.

Bridgestone Retail Operations, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, is marking the10th anniversary of its Driving Great Futures partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) with major donations, special giving campaigns and engagement opportunities for Club kids throughout the remainder of the year. 

Passenger vans are among the most vital resources a Boys & Girls Club can have, providing a solution to transportation challenges and enabling safe travel for young people to and from Club locations. These grants also enable Boys & Girls Clubs to provide more learning experiences for youth off site, such as field trips, college tours and other enriching activities.

https://www.tirebusiness.com/retail/bridgestone-donates-100000-vans-boys-girls-club

https://www.bgca.org/about-us/our-partners/bridgestone/

https://www.facebook.com/bgca.clubs/posts/were-celebrating-10-incredible-years-of-partnership-with-bridgestone-this-milest/1297116241781620/

Bridgestone was recently named one of Forbes’ Best Brands for Social Impact, ranking #20 in the U.S. and rising more than 70 spots from last year.

British singer Dua Lipa has helped fund a pickup truck for Ukraine’s First Medical Battalion as part of a humanitarian effort supporting frontline medical units

Driving Ukraine has been supplying vehicles to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, refurbishing and delivering ambulances and transport vehicles for frontline units.

One innovative and interesting methods for fundraising was a club night. 

The “Club For…” event which reached the British media and was also promoted by the Dua Lipa book club.

https://www.instagram.com/1med.army/

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/74411

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/21/dua-lipa-sends-pickup-truck-to-ukrainian-battalion/

Al Bahr Shrine, part of the fundraising arm of the Shriners Hospital in San Diego, CA. is looking for a 1931 or older vehicle to use as a parade car

the photos show what they can do as part time volunteers, 

Would you be willing to donate a car to help the kids? 

Any questions you may have can be answered by Bob, by calling 619-550-8849, or email sandogbob@gmail.com

Louisa County High School in Virginia has been doing something awesome for the past 8 years, they have been fixing up donated cars and then giving them away to single moms who could use a lift 4-5 times a year (Thank you Steve!)

That's a bunch of teenagers, doing something great for single moms. 

My parents divorced when I was 2 or 3, and then my mom was struggling trying to get by and keeping 2 kids and herself fed and with a place to sleep.

Used cars were 50 bucks back then, in the early to mid 70s, but they were completely worn out. And every damn little thing that could wear out was worn out. That's the only reason those worn out 60s cars were sitting on used car lots, the replacement parts cost more than the cars were worth. 

Around 20 students are working on cars each semester in the school, about an hour northwest of Richmond. The teacher, Shane Robertson, instructs kids on how to perform brake and tire repairs, change fluids, test batteries, and maintain heating and cooling systems.

“They get the real-life grit behind why they are really doing a task,” Robertson said in an interview with ABC. “This is somebody’s real car and you’re really making a change in the world.”

The program began in partnership with the nonprofit Giving Words, a local charity that works to support single parents by providing complimentary vehicles and car repairs.

Founder Eddie Brown and his wife were both single parents who had struggled with transportation issues before launching the nonprofit.

“So far, we’ve given over 60 cars away, and repaired more than 260,” Brown told WTVR

For the news video of the above, word for word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA5k9qmEihU

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/high-school-students-repair-cars-to-give-them-away-to-single-moms-youre-really-making-a-change-in-the-world

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/01/12/car-repair-high-school-students-single-moms

https://givingwordsva.org/

It's a complicated world, and there are many odd ways that cars end up being given to charities, one is for a tax write off, one might be (darned if I know) when people without next of kin die and their cars are suddenly abandoned. Maybe the many cars that are impounded by the county or cities after being abandoned on the streets and ticketed for enough months, end up in these charities. I don't know.

But I know that rarely does a single mom have any spare money for repairs, and I can tell you that a broken radiator is 800 just for parts, Shop rate labor is now around 300 an hour, up 50 an hour from just 2 years ago. I shit you not. 

And there ain't many people who can afford to fix up a run down ol car, and it's the path to perpetual poverty to be without reliable transportation, as IF there is public transportation, the TIME wasted on a bus, trolley, or train, takes away all a persons time to take car of family. 

20 years ago I didn't have a commuter, I just had my 69 R/T, and that was 12 dollars a day to drive to work, and 20 minutes. So, I spent many months taking the San Diego Trolley 3 days a week, and driving the R/T twice a week, and that trolley took about 75 min each direction. So, 2.5 hours wasted to commute to a job that a car could simply take 40 minutes a day to achieve. Time is money too. It's valuable and important to have as much time off work as possible to enjoy living. Even if it's just relaxing. 

I know what it's like to do a daily job without reliable transportation. And how damn expensive it is to fix up old cars. I never had a new car until I was 40. So, the first 20 some years after high school, was all old cars. 

But single moms? They don't get time to relax, they got kids full time. So they need a reliable car that won't drown them in debt in repairs, so they can spend more time raising their kids, because without a parent spending time raising a kid, that's probably going to turn out to be a person with serious problems, a lifetime of them. If that can be prevented with a reliable car? We got to recognize and respect those that can help. 

Not sure what to make of this, the Greensboro Kiwanis had a tiller steered horseless carriage

The Greensboro Kiwanis of NC, are focused on community service, especially for children, through projects like supporting literacy, sponsoring school clubs (Key Club, Terrific Kids), funding local charities (like the Community Theatre of Greensboro and fire safety education), and running fundraisers

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/341211-period-images-to-relieve-some-of-the-stress/page/179/

500 good people in South Bend Indiana pitched in and got Mo a new truck!

Navy veteran Chuck Reeves repairs donated bikes for veterans in need.

The Navy veteran’s bike restoration work started with him repairing bikes for fellow veterans staying at MANA House. Mechanically inclined, Reeves possessed a knack for fixing equipment at a young age. At the homeless veterans shelter, his work began small, fixing a few bikes at a time, to becoming his No. 1 passion.

Bikers Edge Cycle & Fitness in Peoria, Arizona, caught wind of Reeve’s mission and began donating bikes for him to repair. When he finishes a bike, Reeves sends it to MANA House for a veteran to use.

“I’m not out to get rich,” Reeves said. “As long as I can keep going and just help others, that’s what matters.”

Reeve’s work is vital because just under 30 percent of veterans who use transitional housing there have reliable transportation.

Many do not have vehicles, so using a bike can help restore their independence. On a bike, they can get to a job interview or make an appointment on time.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/investigations-and-features/2025/12/11/former-navy-servicemember-repairs-bicycles-veterans-need.html

Pearl Jam's Vitalogy Foundation is raffling Eddie Vedder's '61 Falcon Wagon, to support the different charities that were a part of the Ohana Festival.

https://www.facebook.com/EddieVedder/posts/eddies-giving-away-his-personal-1961-ford-falcon-wagon-to-support-theohanafests-/4457204924507191/

https://www.pearljamonline.it/en/win-eddie-vedders-classic-1961-ford-falcon-wagon/

compliments to Cornwell Tools, they are partnering with the Susan G Komen Foundation to raise money in the fight against breast cancer.

The logo is incorporated into the Cornwell Tools Funny Car paint scheme during the October NHRA races in Dallas and Las Vegas. 

 Also, Cornwell Tools will donate 5% of all sales this month with a minimum commitment of $20,000. A portion of proceeds from every USA-made Tool Cart sold in their Starfire “Pink” Color will be donated back to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

https://www.nhra.com/news/2025/cornwell-tools-partners-susan-g-komen-foundation-prock-funny-car

Founded in 2007 by Marine Corps veteran Steve Danyluk, the Independence Fund's Trackchair program has aided over 2,700 wounded veterans

More than 2,700 all-terrain Track Chairs were delivered to double, triple and quadruple amputees, the Independence Fund has said. The initiative gave freedom back to wounded veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and even Vietnam, allowing them to hunt, fish and go off-road with their families.

Specialized all-terrain trackchairs are engineered to navigate challenging terrain including, snow, mud, and dirt, these mobility devices enable Veterans to reenter the outdoors and engage in the activities they enjoy.

https://independencefund.org/pages/mobility-program

I posted about this a couple years ago... I owe it a repeat https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-independence-fund-nonprofit-that.html

A Minnesota fast food employee, and father of 2, walked four miles each day for over three years to his jobs at Dairy Queen and Chipotle and never took a day off was gifted a Buick Century. He even picked up weekend shifts

He “works 80 hour weeks and sends money home for his kids, and pays bills here, leaving him with nearly nothing after every paycheck,” his coworker Emily Hinderscheid wrote on GoFundMe.

Because he doesn’t save anything for himself, he had nothing to buy a car, and had to walk to work each day.

On a typical morning, he woke up before 5:30 a.m. and walked to the Chipotle he worked at for his morning shift, and then would then clock out at 2:30 p.m. and walk across town to the Dairy Queen for the afternoon shift.

https://nypost.com/2025/08/17/us-news/minnesota-fast-food-worker-rodolfo-depaz-who-walked-over-four-miles-a-day-between-shifts-at-dairy-queen-chipotle-gifted-car

Gerald was out fundraising for charity yesterday! What a great guy!

https://x.com/ClarksonsFarm1/status/1957006235330318755

Tickets to fly on the Goodyear Blimp have been donated to a charity, and bidding for the two-seat experience on the Goodyear blimp, is currently $10,100 and changes in $100 increments. The auction will close Thursday, Sept. 25

The auction coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Blimp’s first flight, which took off in Akron on June 3, 1925, as well as the city of Akron’s bicentennial celebration

The nonprofit Bounce Innovation Hub, helps provide resources to local entrepreneurs and drive economic growth. 

Rides on the Goodyear Blimp are not available for sale. Instead, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company directs the public interest in flights toward helping community nonprofits. Over the past five years, the Goodyear Blimp has reportedly helped raise more than $1.5 million.

https://givebutter.com/c/StartupShowcase2025/auction/items/1154005

https://fox8.com/news/auction-two-tickets-aboard-the-goodyear-blimp/

A stray kitten, who was immediately adopted, became an internet sensation after boarding a New York City subway train last week. (awwwww!)

Emmie -- an ode to the MTA -- is now a Harlem resident after a subway rider, who initially whisked the kitten to safety, decided to keep the two-month-old feline.

The kitten had quietly boarded the subway train and had been going from person to person in adorable kitten fashion, meowing as if looking for her mother or needing help from someone for food and safety. 

Yes, there were other commuters who offered to take her, but subway patron Betsaida Mercado swooped the tiny bundle up into her arms and headed back home.

Maybe the two were meant to be together; the next day Mercado took Emmie to the vet, and the kitten had not been microchipped, making her ready to be adopted.

Since then Mercado set up a fundraiser to help her with the veterinarian fees and closed the funding at $3,000, so grateful to everyone who helped, but stated all that money wasn’t needed. Instead she plans to donate most of the money to a few animal shelters in Manhattan.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/stray-kitten-joins-rat-race-aboard-new-york/story?id=124305138

https://petrescuereport.com/2025/stray-kitten-ran-onto-nyc-subway-endearing-internet-adopted-by-commuter/