Today I wanted to talk to you about a recent opportunity I had to be a blessing to my community through a mentorship program.
Today I want to talk about what “be a blessing” means to me, and how I recently had an opportunity to really serve my community.
“Be a blessing” is our core value and is one of the things we take extremely seriously. It goes beyond just being a blessing to our clients, but also to our community, our family, and the other agents in the office. We want to make sure that wherever we are and whatever we do, we come from a standpoint of contribution to those around us.
Awhile back, we held a toy drive in the community and had such an amazing response that we ended up with more toys, school supplies, and other needed school items than we anticipated. I called Lori Williams, who is on our county school board, and asked her what school would benefit most from these items. I got the number of a local school, Featherstone Elementary, and called the principal to ask her if I could come drop off those items.
Later while I was there doing so, I asked her if there was anything else that we could do to help. She told me that they needed mentors, and from there we were able to build a fantastic mentoring program. We had a group of 5th graders that we met with regularly and taught them things they weren’t learning in the classroom—including life skills like conflict resolution, how to tie a tie, how to shake someone’s hand, and how to look a person in the eye.
"We taught them things they weren’t learning in the classroom."
We really wanted to show these boys how to be cool young men, and give them a space where they could learn from college-educated business owners and other professionals about these life skills.
The biggest challenge with this mentorship program was the time. We went there every Tuesday for the hour right after school, which cut right through the middle of the work day. We had a few instances where parents were unhappy that we were keeping them after school and confrontations would happen. It helped me remember that what we were doing there was showing the boys that there was a better way to handle situations just like that, which was a huge motivator in bringing us back every week.
I’m grateful that I had the chance to serve my community in this way. If you have any questions about this mentorship program or you’re looking to buy or sell a home in our area, give me a call. I’d be happy to help.
