Hello, my name is Ryan Son, and I am currently a 9th-grade student at Palos Verdes High School. You might be wondering how I came up with this idea.
During the summer before entering 9th grade, I became interested in clothes, shoes, and food, and I wanted to be able to buy nice things for myself. My parents always told me that if I wanted something, I had to earn it, which meant working for it. That’s when I came up with the idea of starting a window-cleaning service.
I rode my bike around my neighborhood, going door to door looking for clients. It took hours and many days of knocking before I finally got my first customer. He was very supportive, gave me encouragement, and motivated me to keep going. From then on, every weekend—whenever I don’t have baseball games—I ride my bike to different places and clean windows.
While doing this, I noticed that many seniors live in my area. Their trash bins were often left outside, and mail would pile up, especially when they went on vacation. I immediately realized they needed help, but these small 10–15 minute tasks weren’t enough to hire someone professionally. That’s when I decided I wanted to help my community by offering these services, contributing to the concept of helping hands in neighborhoods.
Before starting my cleaning service, I didn’t really know my neighbors. This experience helped me connect with them and understand their needs. Since I can’t cover all areas on my own, I want to expand this effort to other local communities by recruiting volunteers to work alongside me and help more people, transforming neighborhoods for the better.