How One Man Beat Despair, One Lawn at a Time

Searching for something to do with his days besides spiraling with worry, his thoughts drifted to his grandfather, who had passed away the previous year. “He died before COVID, which was a gift in a way,” Schwartz says. “I couldn’t imagine the stress of him being in an assisted living home during the pandemic. But that got me thinking about other people, and how alone and scared they must feel.”

That led to his eureka moment: Schwartz had a lawn mower and nothing but free time. Why not offer to mow the lawns of his senior neighbors who couldn’t do it themselves? It wouldn’t just make their lives easier; it would also give Schwartz a sense of purpose again. 

“Being outdoors is a form of therapy for me,” he says. “And volunteering kept my spirits up.” It was also a way to demonstrate his initiative to potential employers. “I could’ve just signed up for Habitat for Humanity,” he says. “But I needed to have control over something, because it didn’t feel like I had control over anything else in my life.”

By the fall of 2020, he had 10 volunteers, many of whom were also laid off and brought their own lawn care equipment. “Everyone just wanted to do something good in a time when there was so much bad news,” Schwartz recalls.

“I never intended to create a nonprofit organization,” Schwartz says. “I just wanted to get the word out locally, not just to help others in a time of great uncertainty but also as a way of helping myself.”

AARP Studios

Thousands embrace Schwartz’s work

They soon learned just how much their efforts mattered to the community. Letters started pouring in, Schwartz says, many filled with heartfelt messages of gratitude and, above all, hope. “That’s the word that kept popping up,” he says. “People were looking for hope at a time when there didn’t seem to be much of it. It was something that I needed to hear, too.”

Schwartz has endless stories about the people he’s met because of I Want to Mow Your Lawn, but one of his favorites was a World War II veteran who stormed the beaches of Normandy. “I got to spend some time with him, just listening to his stories,” Schwartz says. “After he died, he donated his riding mower to us. A bunch of us went down to South Jersey for his funeral. You know, sometimes people have called us heroes because of what we do. In my opinion, the heroes are the ones that stormed the beaches of Normandy. We just cut their grass.”

Schwartz doesn’t make a dime from his lawn care business — it’s registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization — but he’s found a new job in the e-commerce industry. “It’s tough to balance it all, and also be present for my family,” he admits. “But we’ve gotten a lot of help.” I Want to Mow Your Lawn has received charitable donations from everyone from Visions Federal Credit Union to Drew Barrymore to Stanley Black & Decker. And in November, Walden Media announced that they’re developing a feature film based on Schwartz’s story, tentatively titled Grassroots. (Schwartz doesn’t have a strong opinion about who should play him in the movie, but he’s rooting for Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad.)

A family finds deep meaning from doing good

Schwartz holding his newborn daughter, Alana, who is wearing a “Daddy's future lawn mower” onesie.

Courtesy Brian Schwartz

More important than the accolades or movie deals is how much Schwartz’s company has meant to his family. Before passing away in 2021, his father made a donation to Schwartz’s GoFundMe, “which ultimately helped us become a nonprofit,” he says. He also has a video of his dad, who remarried and had two young kids before his death, watching the first national news story on I Want to Mow Your Lawn. “He had tears in his eyes,” Schwartz says. “He kept telling his kids, who were young teens at the time, ‘That's your brother.’ He got so choked up. I watch the video now and again, just to see his face again, and to be reminded of how proud he was of me.”

Schwartz has a lot to be proud of as well. In mid-December, his wife gave birth to a daughter, Alana. And then there’s his son, Dylan, now approaching 5 years old. He’s too young to help his dad with the business, but he’s old enough to be very curious. “He sometimes tags along and watches me mow a few lawns,” Schwartz says. “I don’t know if he’ll want to mow lawns for somebody in need someday or if he’ll do something else, but it’s enough that he watches me do the work and knows what it means.”

Schwartz pauses, fighting back a wave of emotion. “I’m just trying to show him that his dad never gave up.”

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