Yass youngster, Oliver Casey, 12, is congratulated by the Mayor of Yass, Allan McGrath, for volunteering to clean up St Clement’s Church. Photo: Supplied.
Oliver Casey, 12, is the sort of boy who likes to get things done – as soon as he sees the need.
For this Yass youngster, the youngest of seven children, that usually means helping someone in need and almost always involves a lawnmower.
Since he was big enough to manage gardening gear, Oliver has been mowing other people’s grass, people he knows or not, if it needs doing. He’ll knock on their door, introduce himself and then offer to clean up their yard – for free. If he’s driving with his mother Caron and sees something that needs doing, he’ll ask her to stop the car to see if he can help.
“He’s always been like this,” his mother said. “He just loves doing it, helping people.
“Being the youngest of seven, he has got a lot of inspiration from his brothers and sisters,” she said.
“I’ve been doing this for a lot of years now,” Oliver said, “but I don’t ask for money. That’s not why I do it; I do it because I just like to help people.”
He often films what he does and posts the video on his Facebook page, Oliver’s Lawns.
Recently, Oliver came to the attention of Nathan Stafford of Nathan’s Mowing fame and his 2.2 million Facebook followers. Nathan became an online sensation about eight years ago when he started filming videos of helping people out with their gardening.
He invited Oliver and his mother to visit him in Sydney – and then presented the youngster with a brand-new lawnmower and a stack of other gear to help make Oliver’s charitable work easier.
Caron said after the excitement of meeting Nathan, they had some time to spare before heading back to Yass so they went to Circular Quay. It was a bitterly cold day so rather than go sightseeing, Oliver told his mother he wanted to buy hot chocolate drinks for people from his pocket money.
News of Oliver Casey’s charitable work in Yass reached Sydney’s Nathan Clifford of Nathan’s Mowing, who presented the youngster with new mowing gear. Photo: Supplied.
“So he went around to all these homeless people at Circular Quay asking if they’d like a hot chocolate and bought some for them. That’s the sort of kid he is.”
Oliver’s work closer to home has also been recognised – by the Yass Valley Council. Mayor Allan McGrath presented the youngster with a new safety jacket and cones to help him with his work, which, on that day, was cleaning up outside the town’s historic St Clements Church.
“At 12 years old, this inspirational young man has been offering gardening services for free for those in need within the community and we were excited to see the outstanding work he has done at St Clements Church in Yass,” Mr McGrath said.
“Oliver is a true inspiration and the Yass Valley is lucky to have such a wonderful man in our midst.”
For Oliver, helping Fragile X , his mother said, was a cause “close to his heart”.
“This month is Fragile X Awareness Month and he is looking to raise money for them,” she said.
“He will dress up in an orange inflatable dinosaur costume, so you may see him out and about helping his community. He hopes to raise some much needed funds for the Fragile X Association of Australia so that they can continue their support for families dealing with Fragile X and also much needed research.”
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