We’ve told you all about Greg Ryan and his mission to give away lawnmowers and snowblowers in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood.
Ryan is proof that giving back to your community feels good. These days, his heart and his garage are overflowing with kindness. In fact, he’s running out of space. Ryan counted out 28 snowblowers tucked away in a garage down the street from his. There’s not much room in either.
“I could really use a little extra space and I’m willing to pay for it if I have to,” Ryan says.
But first, we have to back up. Why does Ryan have all these machines in the first place? He owns a small engine repair company.
“Fixing and doing tune-ups on all those types of equipment,” Ryan says. “And people started giving me the old equipment that they no longer used.”
Ryan told us back in February the lawnmowers and snowblowers came from people who were downsizing their home or just buying a better model.
At first, he fixed them up and sold them.
“I found out that by giving them away to people who really needed them, it was more rewarding to me, more satisfying.”
For people who couldn’t afford one, a gift like that was a blessing. Ryan only occasionally accepts donations.
“This one guy gave me some honey. A young lady brought me an orchid,” he says. “I’ll accept anything that’s legal!”
Ryan says he encourages people to spread goodness.
“Snow blow it forward!” he says. “That means to blow out your neighbor’s yard as well as your own, and it’s going to give the neighborhood some good energy.”
For now, the sound of Ryan’s generosity is a working lawnmower. But he’s confident the community will give back to him so he can keep doing what he does best.
“I suspect that I’m going to have a snowblower giveaway of about 40 machines the first week!”
Ryan did find some extra space to store all his snowblowers. He’s keeping the location a secret to prevent theft. But he says it’s a great spot that will help him be even more efficient in his repairs.
