Lawn company gives 11-year-old who wanted a job his own lawnmower

Q'yaron Gadson, 11, was recognized for his work ethic.

ByABC News
May 23, 2017, 2:16 PM

— -- An 11-year-old boy who approached a stranger for a summer lawn mowing job received an even bigger reward for his work ethic: tools to start his own lawn business.

Q'yaron Gadson, 11, was surprised last Friday with a brand new lawnmower, weedeater and the gas needed to fuel them.

The surprise gifts were orchestrated by Bobby and Kimi West, the owners of Grasshoppers Lawn Care in Dunn, North Carolina.

Bobby West was mowing a lawn in nearby Fayetteville earlier this month when Q’yaron approached him on his bicycle.

"He came up and asked me, 'Sir, if I have experience by this summer would you hire me?,'" West recalled. "I told him that, to be honest, my 15-year-old son is going to be helping me this summer."

Q’yaron rode off on his bicycle, according to West, but returned undeterred around 15 minutes later.

"He came back and said, 'Well, sir, do you have anyone who would have a used lawnmower?'" West said. "I took down his name and phone number."

PHOTO: Q'yaron Gadson, 11, was surprised with a brand new lawnmower, weedeater and the gas needed to fuel them.
Q'yaron Gadson, 11, was surprised with a brand new lawnmower, weedeater and the gas needed to fuel them.

Q’yaron described himself as being focused on the future in his quest for a job.

"I'm getting older, but I have to find something to do," he told ABC News affiliate WTVD-TV on the day he was surprised with the new lawnmower. "I can't just sit in the house and play all my life. I have to get outside and do something at least."

On his drive home, West called William Moss, a longtime friend who repairs lawnmower engines.

"I thought it was a good story," Moss told ABC News. "Most kids that age are on the computer or on the phone. They don’t have an inkling about doing anything."

He added, "This kid wants to work."

The pair decided to buy Q’yaron brand new tools and spent nearly $400 combined to give the boy, a stranger, a chance on his own.

"I called his mom and asked her to make sure that she was okay with us buying him a new one," said West’s wife, Kimi. "His mom was so excited that we saw what she called 'the greatness in my son.'"

Q’yaron's mom, Katrina Gadson, said her son first started talking about getting a summer job around Mother's Day because he wanted to be able to help the family.

"I told him not to worry about it, but he said he was going to help me," Gadson told ABC News. "He said, 'You do a lot for us so I want to do something for you.'"

Gadson said Q'yaron has made close to $60 since receiving the lawnmower and weedeater. He gave his mom $20, which she said he told her was "just because."

"I put it up and if he ever needs it he can have it," she said. "And he’s cut our whole yard, which looks like a professional came and did it."

Kimi West, a mother of two, said she hopes other children see Q'yaron as an example of hard work and success.

"I told him when we surprised him, 'You lead by example, son. With your ambition, your peers are watching you and don’t let anyone say you can’t do something,'" she recalled. "This young man is outstanding in my eyes."