It’s more than lawn care, Lewiston boy sets out to help his community

Actions speak louder than words, and Kyler Frawley is letting his lawn care in the community do the talking.

The fourth grader from Camelot Elementary School, in Lewiston, is on his 32nd lawn into the 50 Yard Challenge. The challenge is for boys and girls ages 8-17 to mow lawns for free for the elderly and disabled, single parents, veterans and anyone in need in the community.

It’s all part of the national nonprofit Raising Men and Women Lawn Care Service, which provides opportunities for kids to give back to the community through lawn care. There is no time limit, but once kids finish, they receive a visit from the organization’s founder, Rodney Smith Jr., and are given a new lawn mower, weed eater and blower.

Kyler started mowing the lawn at his own home in Lewiston and enjoyed it. Then he asked his neighbors if they wanted their lawns mowed.

Kyler began the challenge when his parents, Jason and Kelle Frawley, saw a Facebook post about Raising Men and Women. Kyler got signed up and began mowing lawns for the organization in the fall. In November, he was the Mower of the Month out of 5,000 kids around the country.

“It’s all about giving back to the community for those in need,” Jason Frawley said.

Jason provides the transport and the equipment as well as assisting with the edging, but Kyler does all the work. Jason bought an electric mower for him to use because it’s lighter and easier for the 9-year-old to handle than a heavier gas-powered mower. He’s also been teaching Kyler about the cost of operating a business. When Kyler isn’t mowing lawns for the 50 Yard Challenge he’s mowing them as a part of his lawn care business. He even has his own business cards.

Kyler likes to see before-and-after photos of the yards he mows.

“It looks satisfying,” Kyler said.

In the fall and winter, when mowing lawns isn’t on the to-do list, he picks up leaves and shovels snow, which is also included in the 50 Yard Challenge. One house really was a challenge. Jason Frawley said they picked up 32 bags of leaves.

“That was an all-day job,” he said.

The 50 Yard Challenge isn’t the only way Kyler has given back. He and his family also nominated Kylee Wicks, his fourth grade teacher at Camelot Elementary, for Mowing for a Cause, another organization associated with Smith.

Smith travels to every state as people nominate causes for him to highlight on his social media account. Throughout the tour, Smith brings his lawn mower decorated with ribbons of different colors that support various causes, and at the end of the tour the mower is auctioned off. The proceeds then go to the charities that have been shared on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and X.   

Kyler said Smith was going to all 50 states and he visited the Wicks family this past weekend when he stopped in Idaho. Kylee and her husband, Kyle, have a son, Krew, who has osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as OI.

OI is also known as brittle bones disease, which means Krew has fragile bones that have caused “countless fractures,” Wicks said. “I haven’t even kept track.”

Krew has also had several surgeries and recently had rods put in his legs to help stabilize his bones, which should help him grow. Wicks said it’s a rare condition, one she hadn’t heard of until she and Kyle received the diagnosis.

That rarity caused the family to make connections with others with OI all over the county. Those other families have given the Wicks family medical advice and tips on how to talk with doctors, most of whom are unfamiliar with the disorder.

“Most people just haven’t heard of it,” Kylee Wicks said.

Wicks appreciated Smith sharing their son’s disease with all his followers to spread awareness to a larger audience.

While Wicks knew Kyler was doing the 50 Yard Challenge, she didn’t know anything about the Mowing for a Cause. Then she found out Kyler had nominated the family and later they were chosen for Idaho.

Smith visited the Wicks family Sunday in Lewiston. Wicks said he had a special mower and a van with the organization’s logo on it.

“It was much bigger than I knew,” Wicks said about the organization’s following.

After Smith’s visit, Wicks realized just how many people in the area follow Smith on social media and knew about the organizations, and then she saw her own story.

“It’s interesting because I hadn’t really heard about it before this year,” Wicks said.

When Wicks came to work at the school Monday, people were talking about the visit and she saw how many likes and views the post got on Facebook.

“I think it really excited a lot of people on social media,” Wicks said.

But Wicks is happy about how many more people know about OI through the social media attention. She’s certain more people know about the disorder today than yesterday.

With her work as a teacher, her students know about OI and her son, who is in kindergarten at her school and has made others at the school aware of it. So while those at the school are familiar with the disease, the social media post brings that awareness to the larger community and around the nation.  

The social media attention also brought more awareness for the 50 Yard Challenge and Wicks had a former student join.  

“I’m curious if there’ll be other kids in the community that want to accept the challenge,” Wicks said.

Through the 50 Yard Challenge, other kids like Kyler will be able to give back to the community and “expect nothing in return.”

“It’s really cool that it came full circle,” Wicks said about her family’s and Kyler’s family participation. “I’m really proud of Kyler for taking it seriously.”

While Kyler also got a brief visit from Smith, he’ll get more one-on-one time with him once he finishes the challenge and receives his new lawn care equipment. As he moves through the challenge, Kyler and other participants receive colored shirts once they reach certain milestones of how many yards they have done. For example, a green shirt is for 20 yards and a blue shirt is for 30. Wicks said Kyler comes to school wearing his different colored shirts.

“He’s humble enough he won’t boast, but I notice,” Wicks said.

Even the high-profile visit from the organization’s founder didn’t give Kyler an ego. Wicks said Kyler didn’t even mention it when the class shared about their weekend.

“He talked about something else,” Wicks said.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.