Trick or Treat for the Troops

GREAT TROOPS STORY!

Peggy Thurza, Branch Manager of our Florence Kentucky Office told me this great story.

The Florence Office donated money to purchase DVD’s for our troops and Peggy went to Walmart in Florence to pick up the DVD’s. She was digging through the boxes trying to pick the best DVD’s and there were two young men standing near by and said, “Wow you must be getting a great deal on those DVD’s”? Peggy said it is a great deal, but, she did not know what to pick out and she mentioned she was buying them for “Trick or Treat for the Troops”. She explained what the initiative was and if they had any ideas. As the conversation continued come to find out that both men served in Kuwait and Afghanistan and asked if Peggy was from Coldwell Banker. They mentioned that they had a recreation room over seas with maybe 5 DVD’s they watched over and over again. One day in November of last year they received a big shipment of DVD’s from the USO and some of them had notes from folks from Coldwell Banker. (How cool is that?) Peggy told me they went on and on about how much it meant to them that they were thought of and that is was much needed because they got tired of watching the same 5 movies all the time. The one young man was on leave and will be returning to Kuwait. He mentioned he was a Walmart picking up baby formula and opened his wallet and Peggy said he had $20.00. He handed her $5.00 and asked her to purchase a DVD for him to send to his buddies over seas.

How powerful is that story? Think of the lives you impact with just a simple message and a little time. It would be easy to forget amongst all the political jargon and the state of our economy that we still have men and women protecting us everyday, whether we are at war or not. Let us continue to remember the soldiers’ and their families that continue to sacrifice for us each and every day. Thank you!!

Thomas Courtney
Director of Corporate Philanthropy