In June, Addison Pickering launched a campaign to fundraise her way to a once-in-a-lifetime dance opportunity.  She mowed lawns all summer to cover the cost of her travel expenses to Disneyland to perform with her dance team.  In an exclusive interview with EverythingLubbock.com Addison, now age 10, explained how her fundraising efforts turned out. 

Addison, along with 62 dancers from the Dance Gallery in Lubbock, is headed to Disneyland to perform a half-hour long routine for Dance the Magic’s Holiday Spectacular Parade.  The group will also be performing another, Texas-inspired routine in Fantasyland.

The group of 4th through 9th grade girls was selected for this performance, and Dance Gallery explained that including their families, around 300 people will be traveling in their group from Lubbock to see this performance.

When Addison learned about this opportunity, she knew that it would be expensive for her family.  She wanted to pitch in, so she came up with an idea.

“I remember that Daddy had always told me his stories of mowing, like how he got to Six Flags, he mowed to get the money to go, so I was like can I mow to help raise money? And  [my parents] were like sure,” she said.

Soon, Addison and her father had started A Girl and Her Mower Facebook page. Addison had to learn the basics of lawn mowing and landscaping, enduring the hot Lubbock summer as she tidied up lawns for her clients.  She explained that she has now mowed over 100 lawns and earned $2,600.

Some of that money came in the form of donations.

“We got emails and text messages, messages on Facebook from people we didn’t even know, saying good job, well done, keep up the good work, it was great. In one case we even got a letter from a couple in Germany with 20 dollars,” Jerrod Pickering, Addison’s father explained.  

He added that the support Addison has received in her fundraising venture has meant a great deal to his family.

“It was [often] people who had their own lawn mowers and could have done it themselves, but they chose Addison, and we really appreciate that,” he said.

Jerrod believes this lawn mowing fundraiser has been an important life lesson for his daughter.

“We teach our kids hard work always pays off, in reality though, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes you still fall flat on your face, but in this case all her hard work is paying off and it’s extremely exciting to see, and of course it makes me proud as a father,” he said with a smile. 

Addison said she is a little nervous about the trip, it will be her first time going on an airplane and her first time visiting Disneyland.

“One thing that I am gonna remember from my experience is that my feet are gonna hurt,  and that no matter what happens to me that this is gonna be a dream come true for me,” Addison said. 

A Girl and Her Mower Facebook Page will be live streaming the Disneyland performances, to watch look here.