14-year-old starts lawn care business to raise money for his adoption

A 14-year-old has started his own lawn care business with the dream of being adopted. Tyce Pender from Cayce, South Carolina, has always dreamed of being adopted by his stepdad and is now saving money to make it happen. After his elder brother got a job, Tyce Pender started looking out for a job as well, before deciding to start his own venture in the local community. He had experience cutting grass with his elder brother so he started the business as a way to raise money. "Right now I have seven people signed up," Pender told KHOU. "Three of those are already booked and two are getting quotes from me."

He searched for jobs on Facebook and also posted that he was looking for jobs. The fact that he didn't get many responses didn't deter him and he decided to start his own lawn care business. Given his previous experience cutting grass with his brother, he decided this business would work for him. "I used to cut grass with my oldest brother, and so I thought... I could just cut grasses," Tyce said.

He asked his mom, Marcy Jenkins, for a small business loan to start things off. His mother is happy for him and believes it'll be a really good learning experience. "I'm glad that he wanted to do this and even if he really doesn't make anything it's good for him," said Marcy before adding that her son is ambitious and wants to do big things.

He got the supplies for lawn service and then reached out to his local community through Facebook offering his service. "Hi, my name is Tyce. I am 14 years old and today my mom gave me a business loan and I was able to purchase a rechargeable lawnmower. I do have safety glasses and gloves and I am hoping to find some yards to cut and maybe even maintain them. I go to school during the week and I am available some afternoons and all day on Saturday and Sundays. I also have an electric leaf blower and a rake, too," he wrote.

He was flooded with requests and received more than 100 replies. He has already started maintaining lawns in the area and the local people have nothing but good words for him. "It went so well, he was such a sweet kid, so polite and like just so happy to be there and excited to have his first job, and it was just so sweet," said Sarah Larrabee, one of his clients.

Tyce doesn't have a fixed charge for his services, mainly because he wants to make lawn care accessible and might not have the financial resources to hire other professional people. He wants to run the lawn care business until he graduates from high school. He's saving money he makes from the business for a special purpose. He wants to raise enough money so he can get adopted by his stepdad. "I have a stepdad... and I want him to adopt me so I'm planning to save up a lot of money to help pay for the lawyer," said the boy. With the summer coming up, Tyce is eager to devote more of his time toward helping people maintain lawns in his community.

Those living in the Cayce areas can contact the teenager on Facebook for his services.