CHARLESTOWN, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) For 16-year-old Lucian Smith, mowing lawns has become more than a summer job.

Over the past two years, the Charlestown teenager has pushed a lawn mower from one neighborhood yard to another, cutting grass for veterans, elderly residents, people with disabilities and single parents — all without accepting payment.

The work culminated in Lucian completing 50 free lawns through the Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service’s 50 Yard Challenge, a national program designed to encourage young people to serve their communities while developing practical skills.

Lucian, who is entering his junior year at Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont, already had an interest in lawn care when his mother, Heather Smith, learned about the program from a teacher with whom she’d worked.

The program was a natural fit. Greenwood requires students to complete community service each year, but Heather said that wasn’t the primary reason Lucian took on the challenge.

“He was already mowing lawns,” she said, “and if he did 50 lawns (through the program), he’d get a lawn mower and a weed whacker and a leaf blower. They use it as incentive. You can start your own business and you can help others.”

The organization, founded by Rodney Smith Jr., began in Alabama after Smith encountered an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn in 2015. Smith stopped to help, then began mowing lawns for people who needed assistance. The effort eventually expanded into a youth program and the 50 Yard Challenge.

Today, Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service encourages young people to mow 50 lawns free of charge for people in need. Participants receive a different colored shirt after each 10 lawns, and the organization provides equipment to young people who complete the challenge. The nonprofit also offers free snow shoveling and leaf-raking services.

The organization originally operated under the name Raising Men Lawn Care Service before expanding its branding to include young women as well.

For Lucian, however, the appeal was simple: he liked mowing lawns and wanted to help people.

Lucian and his family primarily used Facebook to connect with potential recipients, with some people returning for help more than once.

There were a few obstacles.

Because Lucian was using a push mower, transportation limited the distance he could travel. He and his family concentrated on finding lawns within walking distance, meaning that the size and location of each yard mattered.

He developed his own system for tackling larger properties, breaking them into sections rather than trying to mow the entire yard at once.

“I do one corner of it, then I do the middle, then the other corner,” he said. “Then if there’s like small little areas in between, like a fire pit or a tree, I leave those out. Then I come around and take my time with the lawnmower or the weed whacker.”

The 50 lawns weren’t completed quickly. A drought last year brought grass growth to a standstill and forced Lucian to wait before he could finish the challenge.

“It took me two years,” he said.

Heather said Lucian would likely have completed the challenge sooner if not for the unusually dry conditions.

Each lawn also had to be documented. Participants were expected to provide photographs showing the property before and after the work, along with a picture of themselves mowing and, when possible, a photograph with the person whose lawn they had serviced.

For Lucian, the experience has become part of a broader record of community service. He has also participated in a Christmas program in Newport, helping children select and wrap gifts for their families.

“We came to a school that had one room full of gifts, and little kids would come, and we would have to help them pick out gifts for their family members,” Lucian said. “Then we would wrap it and let them bring [them] home.”

The lawn-care challenge has also complemented Lucian’s paid work. He currently works for a local lawn-care company in Charlestown, although he isn’t sure yet what career he ultimately wants to pursue.

Whatever direction he eventually chooses, Lucian said the 50 Yard Challenge taught him something that applies well beyond lawn care: keep going.

“You can’t give up if you put your mind towards it,” he said.

That lesson may be one of the most important things Lucian takes with him from the experience. What began as an opportunity to combine his interest in mowing with a community-service requirement became two years of showing up, working through obstacles and helping people who needed a hand.

In the process, a teenager with a push mower helped demonstrate the idea behind Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service: sometimes making a difference starts with something as ordinary as taking care of someone’s lawn.