Here at Keller Williams Wellington, our agents pride themselves on making a big impact on the community and are annually recognized by Keller Williams Realty International for our efforts. As you may have read in our previous blog post, we have been honored to help on a national level with Autism Speaks for the past 11 years.
Chair of the Keller Williams Wellington Culture Committee, Adrienne Carruthers, a local to the Palm Beach area, regularly participated in the Autism Speaks walk with her kids before taking over the Culture Committee. She is a Mom of four, one 19-year-old and three 16-year-olds, and has been in the real estate industry for 15 years.
Adrienne Carruthers, Chair of the KWW Culture Committee
Adrienne joined the Keller Williams Realty Wellington Group in South Florida about eight years ago. Since then, she consistently ranked in the top 10% and is currently a member of the the Agent Leadership Council (ALC). Soon after she joined the ALC, Adrienne was handed the opportunity to run the Keller Williams Wellington Culture Committee.
Since then, Adrienne started to feel drawn to the community work. "It feels wonderful to give back to the community and get everyone involved. We need to do better as a country, be kind and do more," she stated.
When Adrienne took over as the chair for the Culture Committee in 2020, it was the beginning of the pandemic, and then in 2021, the Autism Speaks walk got canceled. So, the committee decided to contact the Palm Beach School for Autism to help provide some local support.
The money raised from last year directly supported Project Next – a hospitality and management trainee program that teaches the adult students life skills, helping them integrate into society and be more independent. Moreover, Project Next provides on-site and community training through partnerships with local businesses.
"The School for Autism was so appreciative of the support last year and it was really rewarding to see the impact our efforts made on Project Next, so the Culture Committee decided to make the school the primary recipient of our fundraising efforts again this year," Adrienne explained.
"I've been very impressed with how charitable our [Keller Williams Realty Wellington] agents are - they always show up to support the community and fundraise for our designated charities," Adrienne stated.
Nancy Jennings, Broker for Keller Williams Wellington
One of the other reasons it's so important for the Keller Williams Wellington team to participate in autism awareness is that this disorder affects some of the KWW staff's family members. "Everyone knows someone who has autism, [especially since] the spectrum is so broad," Nancy Jennings explained.
Nancy has been a real estate agent since 1985, but for the last 12 + years, she's been Broker of Record/Team Leader for Keller Williams Wellington. It was the year 2017 when Autism Speaks came into Nancy's life where she was able to help provide more awareness. She rounded up about 50 to 100 agents, got everyone shirts, raised money, and walked together.
"[It's] a great family event with lots of kids involved as well," Nancy said. The team name for the Autism Speaks walk is Team Tanner, and Tanner is Nancy's grandson who has Autism.
Nancy further explained that having schools like Palm Beach School for Autism is so vital for individuals with autism to help them learn and grow in a safe and educational environment that caters to their needs. "Plus, it's so hard for the parents; they're the ones that need the help whether it's babysitting or caregivers, they need to keep working, but the kids have so many needs," Nancy explained.
She further stated that her grandson is still nonverbal, but he has come a long way. Luckily, Tanner can attend the Palm Beach School for Autism until 21-years-old. The spectrum of autism is so vast that people need to be better educated and why these local programs and schools are vital to a community.
Support, Donate or Volunteer in South Florida 2022
If you are interested in supporting this year, you can donate, attend an event, have an annual sponsorship, or become a school employee. If you would like to donate through the Keller Williams Wellington sponsorship this Spring, give our Culture Committee a call today at 561-398-4166.
You may also donate via GoFundMe
Moreover, the Culture Committee hosts other events throughout the year, including:
- Red Day on May 12th
- KWW Annual Golf Tournament in September
- Breast Cancer Awareness in October
- Feed the hungry of Palm Beach County in November
- Local Toy Drive in December