NJ teens team up and find a new way to earn a buck

OK, perhaps it's not really a new way to earn a buck, but it is new and different for this group of kids in my neighborhood. And to be honest, all of our younger residents should be doing this.

For the first time in my neighborhood, a group of about six or seven kids were walking around our neighborhood going door to door looking to make a little extra money. They were asking neighbors if they could rake up their leaves for them ahead of the townwide leaf pickup days.

And it wasn't just teens that were part of this mix. Some of them were clearly a bit younger, say around 11 or 12 in age. It's possible the younger ones were siblings, but it doesn't matter.

What was great to see was this group of younger individuals working together to help out their neighbors and earn a few extra bucks at the same time. Had I known in advance they were going to come around, I would've saved my yard for them to do (I literally had just finished my yard that Saturday morning when they came around to my house a little bit later that day).

I did comment to them that we will need to rake again in the coming weeks since a lot of trees around my yard still have leaves that haven't fallen yet and I invited them to come back. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask what they're charging, but I'll make sure I have cash on hand.

This is New?

I also mentioned that it was nice to see them for the first time and said it reminded me of the kids who went around last year shoveling snow when it fell. That's when I found out why they were going around raking leaves.

He told me because of how warm this winter is expected to be and the lack of snow that's predicted, they don't think they'll get that opportunity during the winter. As I learned here, this was the same group of kids I've seen in the past, but with snow shovels instead of rakes.

This group has found a new way to earn some cash together, even though raking leaves isn't technically anything new, it was for them. But I was so happy to see them brainstorming to come up with alternatives in case we get another mostly snowless winter.

Lazy Kids?

I also want to point this out. With so much criticism of today's youth being glued to their screens or sitting around and doing nothing, doesn't this show that it's not all like that?

Yes, being glued to our technology can be a problem at times, but not always. Just keep that in mind the next time you see a group of teens and kids in your neighborhood going around trying to do something positive.

As for this group? Thank you for what you're doing. And hopefully, more of New Jersey's youngest residents will follow your example (and yes, I'll save the leaves - and snow - for you next time now that I know you'll be around).

UP NEXT: Kudos to this NJ Wawa attendant who actually provided full service at the pump

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.