July Perspective

Like many of you, our family has a high school senior who graduated this year – she is both eager and excited to embark upon the next phase of her life (even if we aren’t!). It wasn’t all that long ago that for graduates, like ours, community service was something they did to pad their college applications, but now this important exercise is a requirement at most high schools. That’s because a common belief is that community service links together the academic, social, and emotional elements of learning while giving kids the chance for personal growth through helping others. And hopefully those same kids will grow into adults who will continue to be engaged, positive citizens in their community.

We couldn’t agree more.

That’s why every year Windermere closes its offices for one day to help make a positive difference in our local communities. It all started in 1984 with our dad, a handful of agents, and a dilapidated chain-link fence at a nearby elementary school that needed some TLC. Twenty-seven years and more than 800,000 hours of community service later, we’ve continued this tradition through neighborhood-enhancing projects in the areas where our Windermere teams live, work, and play.

We agree that community service shouldn’t end with a cap and gown. Over the years, our team has proven this time and time again by embodying the notion that service to others is not something you do, it is who you are.