Kenny Crenshaw, a longtime NFIB member and Small Business Legal Center donor spearheaded a national volunteer effort on Monday to landscape Arlington National Cemetery.

“It makes us all feel really good to be able to give back.”

Crenshaw, 56, owner of Herbi-Systems in Bartlett, Tenn., helped organize the efforts of some 400 landscapers from more than 30 states as they completed projects around the hallowed grounds, including spreading fertilizer and lime, which helps the grass grow.

Volunteers also erected a new retaining wall and trimmed the grounds, among other projects. 

“It makes us all feel really good to be able to give back,” Crenshaw said. “It takes a few years to understand the impact. I’ve had lots of people tell me ‘I’ve got a relative buried there.’”

The Army runs the cemetery, the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty service members, veterans, and their families. The volunteers focused on jobs that were too big for cemetery staff but too small to contract out to firms. 

Organized by the National Association of Landscape Professionals for Renewal and Remembrance, the event is in its 22nd year.

“I try to tell people that even the federal government doesn’t have unlimited funds,” Crenshaw said. “As business people we want them to operate on a budget. Everybody has a little something extra that they would like to do.”