He was very polite and well mannered.

I picked him up at his house and we had about a 10 minute ride back to my house.

I asked him –“Where are you going to school?  He said he is going to Bellermine…”

And what do you want to be when you are older….He replied he wanted to be a doctor.

I know that he came from simple beginnings and this was a big dream.

I replied…”Wow that is a big dream…how did you ever know that is what you wanted”.

He said “I was lucky enough to join a group at school that helped me realized that I can do anything I want to do…and I can go to a good high school and college”.

I thought those are big dreams…but  good ones to have.

I asked “what’s the name of the group”

He replied “Breakthrough of Silicon Valley”.

His name is Ramon Garcia.  His father is my gardener and my friend.

I am so proud that this group received one of Intero Foundation  grants.

We do good things!!

At the Intero Foundation, we believe that the work Advocates for Children provides is important and vital to the future success of those children in the foster care system.  That’s why we are proud to present a check to Advocates for Children for their tireless support of the children in our community.

For more information, or if you would like to volunteer or donate, please visit the Advocates for Children website:

http://advocatesfc.org/index_en.shtml

The eWaste recycle event at Intero Real Estate office in San Mateo was a huge success. All week long the people came to the office with old televisions, unused cell phones, computer monitors, keyboards and all types electronic stuff that no longer worked or was being used. The Intero Foundation partnered with EarthCare Recycling by offering an eWaste Collection Center at Intero Real Estate San Mateo the week of August 9, 2010.

After a week of collecting and accepting eWaste, EarthCare Recycling showed up with two trucks to collect the recyclables. EarthCare Recycling will donate 50% of the proceeds from all the recycled EWaste to the Intero Foundation. The Intero Foundation provides grants to local non profits that are dedicated to helping children in need and children in crisis.   The Foundation has funded grants totaling more than $50,000 so far this year and over $1.5 million since its inception.

Thanks to the Intero agents, office staff and all those that took the time to bring unused electronic equipment to the office. While we don’t have the final figures this was truly a win – win for all.

The Intero Foundation, founded in 2002, continues to impact the growth and well being of children and youth in the communities we serve, by providing grants to organizations. Year to date, we’ve already given close to $1.7 million to non-profit organizations throughout the Bay Area – thanks to the real estate agents and events like the Intero Foundation Golf Tournament.

With a lunch provided by Old Republic Home Warranty and other generous sponsors such as Bank of America cheering on the golfers as they were teeing off, this was one of the best golf tournaments Intero has put on! Nearly $4,000 was raised in raffle tickets alone!

Gino Belfari, President and CEO of Intero Real Estate Services, added to the excitement, by riding around in a decorated golf cart and mingling with the golfers, sponsors and spectators. Many other supporters joined in for a dinner, auction and music afterwards providing a perfect end to a perfect day.

A big thank you to our sponsors:

Bank of America, Old Republic Home Warranty, Zoom Copiers, Fidelity Home Warranty, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Health E Centric, Intero Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, Franco Uomo, Campo Di Bocce, JCP-LGS Disclosures, Property I.D., Cutco, Homeguard, Citrusolution, Daddario Construction, Marvin Davis Construction Inc., Hammer Auto, Corefact, C.J. Olson Cherries, Beverly’s Baskets, Insightful Services, Win Home Inspections, Jon R. Crase Construction, Passport Unlimited, and Kris Myers & Cathy Jackson.

If you are interesting in donating to the Intero Foundation or know an organization that may benefit from a grant, please go to our new website at www.interofoundation.org. Thanks again to everyone for a great event and raising awareness to this wonderful cause.

To tell the truth, electronic waste isn’t something that I usually think about. Of course, I know such things as old cell phones, used lap top batteries, computer monitors and such don’t get thrown away in the trash or recycle bin. I’ve seen signs around town that let me know I can recycle electronic waste at some location or another at some time in the future. The problem is that eWaste accumulates very slowly and so it just gets put in some obscure drawer or placed out of the way in the garage.

For instance here in my office I have an old phone and charger, a broken video camera and a laptop battery that gave up long ago. Without even thinking about it, I know we have two computer monitors, one printer, a broker dvd player and several what I call “spare” cell phones at home.

We all know recycling is the right thing to do. Now what if you had an opportunity to recycle electronic waste and help children? Now that would be a really good deal. This is your opportunity to recycle and help children. The Intero Foundation has partnered with Earth Care Recycling and is accepting Electronic Waste for recycling at the Intero Real Estate Services office in San Mateo during the week of August 9, 2010. That’s right, just bring those old cell phones, computer monitors, keyboards and all the other electronic stuff you’ve been meaning to recycle to the Intero Real Estate Services office at 1100 Park Place, Suite 100, San Mateo between August 9, 2010 and August 13, 2010 and we’ll take care of the rest.

Now here’s the really good part….EarthCare Recycling will donate 50% of the proceeds from all the recycled eWaste to the Intero Foundation. The Intero Foundation provides grants to local non-profits that are dedicated to helping children in need and children in crisis. The Foundation has funded grants totaling more that $50,000 so far this year. So remember, the more electronic waste you can bring by the Intero San Mateo office between August 9, 2010 and August 13, 2010 the more the Intero Foundation can grant to non-profits that assist children in need and in crisis.

If you need assistance or have questions, I can be reached at 650 325 7877 or RBoyd@InteroRealEstate.com.

Free e-Waste Recycling event at

Intero Real Estate Los Altos

Did you know 2.5 million tons of e-Waste is created each year? 

82% of it ends up in landfills unrecycled.  Help us change this!

Tell your family, friends, and co-workers to bring their e-Waste to Intero Real Estate on:

Saturday, September 18, 2010        

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

 496 First St., Los Altos

We take all computer & electronic equipment.   Visit: www.EarthCareRecycling.com for a complete list of acceptable items.

Any proceeds will benefit the Intero Foundation, funding grants to children’s charities in our communities.

We at Intero Real Estate have a deep commitment to our communities and the environment which we all share.  With the Intero Foundation already helping to serve children in our community, Los Altos and Hollister Intero decided to step it up even further and improve the safety of our environment by providing our community a way to dispose of all their unwanted E-waste.  

On Saturday June 19^th, Intero Real Estate in Los Altos and Hollister hosted our first free E-waste Recycling Day.  We collaborated with our partner for this event, Earth Care Recycling, and were able to use this event to raise money for the Intero Foundation.  We sent our amazing Intero Team out into our community to spread the word about the event, and the result was phenomenal!  We collected 28,000 lbs of electronic waste! We also raised over $2,000 for the Intero Foundation.    This money will go to programs and foundations which work to positively impact the growth and well-being of children within our community. 

A huge thank you to our community for helping Los Altos and Hollister Intero Real Estate improve our community.  We made it safer and healthier and also are able to help more children through the Intero Foundation via the money we raised.  We can be proud that we made a difference that day and we did it together.  Thank you.

They are currently having summer classes. Each day begins with a song and then short presentations from all the classes.

I was so impressed by these young children who stood up in front of a crowd of strangers and sang or recited poetry that they had written, or even performed a short skit. They seemed so fearless. So proud of what they could do.

I was very impressed. They said they learned this confidence from Breakthrough.

And then we were given a tour of the classrooms. There were 4-6 students in each class. Now that was impressive and the teachers were all young …some in high school but it was obvious to me they knew what they were doing.

Our tour guide was a nice young 7th grader who said she was so grateful to be involved in Breakthrough. She said each student makes a commitment to go to class from 7 to 4, five days a week and then 2-3 hours of home work every night. Imagine if we each made that kind of commitment in our lives.

Then we heard from the previous years young teachers who are now teachers with classrooms of their own. They have come back to donate more of their time, they want this program to last. It set the stage for the kind of teachers they are today. I am proud that we at the Intero Foundation choose them to be one of our grant recipient. And everyone in the room was grateful to Intero for the grant.

Think about it, these children are our future. We are helping them attain a brighter future.

Our main goal is to get the funds to the children…

We are a good team and we do good things….sometimes it is stressful and full of challenges but we help put shoes on their feet…and teddy bears to hold at night…and someone to help in their lives.…we do a good job with your money!!

Thank you all for contributing to these children…

we appreciate your support.

I absolutely love this Intero Foundation!

Free e-Waste Recycling event at Intero

Did you know 2.5 million tons of e-Waste is created each year? 

82% of it ends up in landfills unrecycled.  Help us change this!

Tell your family, friends, and co-workers to bring their e-Waste to Intero Real Estate on:

Saturday, June 19, 2010         9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Two locations:

Intero Real Estate, 496 First St., Los Altos

Intero Real Estate, 800 San Benito St., Hollister

We take all computer & electronic equipment.   Visit: www.EarthCareRecycling.com for a complete list of acceptable items.

Any proceeds will benefit the Intero Foundation, funding grants to children’s charities in our communities.