Travelling with little more than a lawnmower and yard tools, Bermudian Rodney Smith Jr has completed his task of cutting grass for the needy in every state in the United States.

Mr Smith’s efforts have beenso inspirational that more young people are now doing likewise for the elderly, disabled, single mothers or veterans in the US and Britain.

Already, 30 children have risen to his challenge to mow 50 lawns for the vulnerable in their area.

Mr Smith, the founder of Raising Men Lawn Care Service, embarked on his 50 States 50 Lawns challenge in May and completed the task within 39 days. He drove to 48 of the 50 states, and flew to Alaska and Hawaii, managing to exceed his goal and mowing between 55 and 60 lawns across the country — raising $6,000 for RMLCS at the same time.

He described the challenge as an enjoyable experience that enabled him to meet a wide variety of people all across America. It also taught him the service is “necessary in more than just Huntsville”, Alabama, where the idea to maintain lawns for people who are unable to do so themselves was born.

Mr Smith was first bitten by the mowing bug after he assisted an elderly man who was struggling to cut his lawn. He later created RMLCS, which is sustained via donations through a GoFundMe page. The idea for the 50 States 50 Lawns challenge was conceived at Alabama A&M University, where Mr Smith was pursuing a master’s degree in social work. He said he felt inspired after watching The Kindness Diaries, a Netflix documentary about “sharing everything you have, even if you don’t have much”.

His next challenge, The 50-Yard Challenge, is encouraging children worldwide to jump aboard the bandwagon by inviting them to mow 50 lawns each.

“It feels good to see that this small idea has inspired people to help others,” Mr Smith said.

“Let’s make a difference together by mowing one yard at a time.”

Any children wishing to take part should visit http://weareraisingmen.com/the-50-yard-challenge, get their parents’ assistance to fill out a form and upload a photograph of themselves holding a sign saying: “I accept the 50-Yard Challenge.”

In return, they will receive a white RMLCS shirt. For every ten lawns they cut, they will get a new coloured shirt. On hitting the 50-lawn target, Mr Smith and his team will visit the children, present them with a new lawnmower and join them “cutting a few lawns”.