As a 10-year-old in the sixth grade, Sonny Gallardo started mowing lawns around Prairie Village.

Gallardo, whose grandmother Monica Gallardo describes as a lifelong entrepreneur who had gumball machines at his favorite barbershop at the age of 4, fell in love with lawn care after working in the yard with his grandfather, Tony Gallardo.

Over the past four years, Gallardo has reinvested in his business. He continuously upgraded his equipment, starting with a push mower to a small riding mower.

As a now 14-year-old ninth grader, Gallardo purchased a 10-foot trailer earlier this year. Gallardo started a business called Sunnyside Jobs LLC.

Before insurance could be secured, the night before Halloween, someone stole Gallardo’s 10-foot trailer and five mowers from his Prairie Village home. He lost about $20,000 worth of equipment.

Gallardo asked for the community’s support to replenish his equipment inventory. Being met with more donations and offers from other lawn care businesses to donate equipment, he said he’s ready to grow his team — and give back to the community.

“I was really just speechless,” Gallardo said about the theft. “It was sad at first, but I don’t know. I had a feeling something good would happen. Look where we are.”

The theft happened outside of their Prairie Village home

Monica, Gallardo’s grandmother, told the Post that the equipment was stolen from the 10-foot trailer in front of their home.

The 10-foot trailer, purchased earlier this year as Gallardo secured a job for a 3-acre plot, housed five mowers and additional equipment.

Monica said the theft happened about 3:10 a.m. on the night before Halloween.

Tony, Monica’s husband and Gallardo’s grandfather, walked out of the house at 3:30 a.m., she said.

“They just came in the night and took it,” Monica said. “Just barely missed them.”

Capt. Josh Putthoff with the Prairie Village Police Department told the Post in a Friday morning email that there is little known about the incident at this time.

“An unidentified truck arrived overnight and hooked up the lawn equipment trailer and then drove away,” Putthoff said. “We haven’t been able to identify the truck at this time. Our investigations unit is still investigating it.”

The business is “everything” to Gallardo

For Gallardo, lawn care is a lifelong passion.

“I just love the end result on how it looks and I just like how my clients would look pretty happy,” Gallardo said. “I know how it feels to come out to a nice-looking lawn.”

Since he was a young child, Gallardo said he’s always been interested in lawn care. He used to go door-to-door with his grandpa to rake leaves.

That’s why for him, the business means “everything.”

Monica said it’s been “a four-year climb for him,” and the fact that he is homeschooled allows him to dedicate time to the business.

The response from the community, both in monetary and equipment donations, has been “overwhelming,” Monica said.

Gallardo said he started out as a small business, but now he feels like he’s “part of the club” with other lawn companies and YouTube influencers connecting with him following the theft incident.

Sunnyside Jobs will be fully equipped, with more equipment than it started out with, after all the donations from lawn care companies, Gallardo said.

How to connect with Sunnyside Jobs LLC

Now that YouTube influencers and other lawn care businesses in the community have stepped up to donate equipment to Gallardo, he said he is ready for more work.

All of the donations made to the GoFundMe, found here, will go toward other business expenses. As of Friday morning, it’s raised $33,815 of a $20,000 goal.

“When you’re receiving blessings to this degree, it’s so hard to give enough thanks,” Monica said. “You can’t thank someone enough in a situation like this, when you are so, so thankful.”

Monica said the top priority for using the funds is to find storage for all of the new equipment.

Gallardo is ready to get back to work, but he said he also wants to give back to the community by helping elderly folks tend to their lawns for free.

Anyone who wants to inquire about hiring Gallardo for a job or helping an elderly person with yard work can call Sunnyside Jobs LLC at (913) 420-3607.

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