A must read to end your day on a high note

This past Tuesday, Intero gathered together to celebrate all of our 2013 accomplishments.  This success includes everything we do with the Foundation to help change the lives of kids in our community.  We were very lucky to have some very special visitors stop by from Alum Rock Counseling Center to share their personal experiences at this event.  The Foundation has been a big supporter of Alum Rock Counseling Center since 2006 and welcomed the chance to see our work in action through the story's these girls chose to share.  Even more impressive was the overwhelming response our agents had towards them.  This is why giving back to the community is part of the Intero way of life. I am sure you will be moved by the below message which was sent by one of our visitors after their experience with the Intero Family:

Intero’s generosity last night as Lucie, Crystal, Andrea and I 'crashed' the fabulous Intero party is so deeply appreciated!

The entire evening was just an incredible experience for the girls. They wobbled into Johnny Rockets - new shoes for the big time party, don't you know! - juggling those incredible football cases, VIP seat signs, copies of their speeches and their ubiquitous cell phones. They could hardly catch a breath to order hamburgers, fries, milkshakes and more with all the texting and selfies they had to publish for their families and friends. They were buzzing like crazy all the way home.

But it was the reception that they received from your Intero family that put the kids over the moon! They continue to talk about the sniffles, cheers, standing ovations and kindness in so many ways they experienced last night. In their lives they've never seen so many grown-ups decked out in formal wear and still taking the time to tell two teens how touching their stories are. Even during the first half of the evening they had all kinds of questions about what a real estate agent does and what it means to be top 10% or 5%. What's a rookie? (It didn't hurt that the Southern California person honored looked close to their age and gave them a chance to see themselves someday in his shoes.)

All the anticipation in the world could not have prepared Crystal and Lucie for last night and all that followed.

The surprise of having Dwight Clark present those incredible footballs was icing on the cake. But you know what they talked about the most (admittedly while hugging those football cases)? It was the warmth of your people. The fact that you stopped by to talk to them and take pictures. Your generous gift that gave them such a terrific two part dinner - lemonade and appetizers at The Fairmont (dontcha know!) and then a full-on teen feast at Johnny Rockets after! (I didn't think it was possible to stuff two teens - but by the time they got home, they were full. The sniffles in the crowd. The shout-outs and spontaneous standing ovations. It was a night they won't forget! And neither will I! Thank you.

On our way out, the girls were stopped by so many of your people with high fives and thumbs up and lovely comments. As we came out of the ballroom, one of your agents - clearly moved by what they'd said - stopped us to say 'thank you.' He, too, hugged the girls and then spontaneously said, "I want you to go buy something for yourselves" and gave them each a $100 dollar bill - something neither of them had ever seen before. The girls were, obviously, overwhelmed and appreciative. But what then kept commenting about was that he was "so nice" and "he cried and hugged us."

Words are insufficient to express how much Andrea and I appreciate what Intero did for our kids! Lucie and Crystal are just 2 of the 92 kids in the Middle School Mentoring & Support Program at Ocala. And while ARCC serves 4000+ kids and families each year - we know that the only way to truly change lives is one life at a time. I think that's exactly what you and your team did last night. Again, thank you.

Best, Stephanie