Michael Ralph makes sure some military families enjoy a freshly mowed yard while their spouses are stationed overseas.
All for free.
“I’m just giving back,” says Ralph, who cranked up his AMC Lawncare business seven years ago in Newport News, Va.
This season, Ralph is taking care of yards for about 10 military families in southeastern Virginia as part of GreenCare for Troops.
It’s a national project launched by Project EverGreen, a nonprofit group that promotes the maintenance and use of green spaces. About 125 landscape and lawn contractors nationwide have signed up to take care of lawn-care needs for 1,100 families across the country, and more are registering every day, according to executive director Den Gardner.
“Many serving in the Middle East are from National Guard units, and so many spouses are left to manage lawn care by themselves while trying to take care of their children and other responsibilities,” says Gardner. “We felt it could be a service we could provide to help out in a small way for families directly involved in the war on terror.”
Shelley Freeman of Hampton, Va., appreciates the free mowing she gets from Ralph’s company.
“I don’t know what I would do without his help,” says Freeman, 41. “I can’t imagine getting out myself and doing it.”
Her husband, Staff Sgt. Timothy Freeman, 35, has been in Iraq since January. He’s with the 654th Military Police division of the Army National Guard and returns from overseas duty early next year.
In addition to cutting Freeman’s grass, Ralph aerated, seeded and fertilized the yard and planted all sorts of pretty flowers, she says – again, all at no cost to her.
“He’s really nice,” she says.
Ralph, 37, shrugs off the compliments.
“I just want to do what I can to help,” he says.
Giving back is important because he’s in a good place business-wise, he says.
When he lost his school security job in 2000, he used his income tax return to buy one mower and he’s “never looked back.” Now, Ralph supervises nine employees operating nine mowers, handling 400 to 500 residential and 30 commercial accounts weekly.
“People used to look at me as a lawn boy and now I’m making more than a school principal,” he says.
“Helping military families is just the right thing to do.”
GreenCare for Troops
Military families with a spouse serving overseas can apply for lawn-mowing help through the national GreenCare for Troops project sponsored by Project EverGreen, a nonprofit environmental group. Help is based on the availability of volunteer services from a lawn-care company in each area of the country. For an application, visit www.projectevergreen.com or call toll-free, 877-758-4835.
