The seven Youth of the Year finalists for Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County took over the Office Depot board room in their Boca Raton, Fla. headquarters on Monday, March 21. Senior executives from Office Depot invited the teens to tour the state-of-the-art facility while forging new relationships with the soon-to-graduate Club members.
“We wanted to get to know you better because we were so impressed when we saw your speeches during the Youth of the Year Dinner,” said Kevin Moffitt , EVP, Chief Retail Officer of Office Depot and Corporate Board Member of Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. “You are welcome here and part of our family in this great community. Your futures are so bright, and Office Depot is proud to support you and will always be rooting for you!”
The Youth of the Year finalists were treated with an in-depth and personalized tour of the Boca Raton facility that contains experimental storefronts where Office Depot designs the displays located inside their stores nationwide. Senior staff split up and spoke to the teens more one-on-one to provide career and life advice. At lunch, Office Depot leaders spoke to how they came to work at Office Depot and gave their best advice on how the Club members could jumpstart their careers.
“I want to thank Office Depot for taking the time to meet with us. I learned that we all should expect change and not be afraid of it. I learned relationships matter for your career and the importance of building those relationships,” said Palm Beach County Youth of the Year Jermaine Lovely, who will be attending Florida A&M after graduating from Glades Central High School later this Spring.
The Office Depot staff plan to keep in touch with the Youth the Year finalists and continue to offer valuable career advice. Some of the staff remembered how difficult college could be and wanted to make sure they could pass along their wisdom to help the teens.
“This was an incredible day for our Club members, and the advice they received today will help them for their entire careers. I also think strong relationships were forged today and will be just as long-lasting,” said Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and Marketing of Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County Eric Roby. “Office Depot has a long history of supporting our Clubs, but I think today’s meeting could be the start of an extremely special way that Office Depot employees will be able to give back by sharing their own experiences with our Club members on a more personal level.”
At the end of the four-hour meeting, the Club members were given college-style backpacks full of school supplies and a gift card to Office Depot to help them start their collegiate careers.
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