CGI Windows & Doors Kicks off Statewide Voting Campaign in Celebrating Strength Contest
CGI Windows & Doors, part of the PGT Innovations family of brands, recently awarded four individuals from across Florida with a $1,000 cash prize as part of its “CGI Heroes: Celebrating Strength” contest. The annual event recognizes Florida residents who have gone above and beyond to help others. This year, a second round was added to the contest to select a grand prize winner from the four initial winners. The grand prize winner will receive an additional cash prize of $5,000.
The grand prize winner will be selected through an online voting campaign from May 13-28, and announced on June 1 on CGI’s social media channels.
Tori Mason, Janet Woods, Bethany Keime and Drew Rogers were all nominated and selected as statewide finalists for their commitment to assisting others.
“These four Florida residents represent the definition of a community hero,” says Bob Keller, president of the Southeast business unit for PGT Innovations. “Their clear dedication to servant leadership, generosity, and compassion made them stand out among hundreds nominated across the state. Our team is honored to highlight their accomplishments and recognize them for the ways they are serving their communities.”
Meet the Winners
Mason is a school resource officer with the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office in the Destin/Fort Walton Beach area. The law enforcement officer is passionate about helping kids and serving others. She is a single mom who dedicates her time to serving on the Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, instructs at the Teen Driver Challenge Program, and recently launched a fellowship of Christian Police Officers. Mason is known for going above and beyond to assist students at whatever school she is assigned to and creating safe learning environments and positive interactions between herself and students. She regularly fundraises for families in need and can always be found helping her fellow officers or community members.
Woods is a dedicated volunteer with the 9463 Foundation and South Florida Rest, organizations that support first responders in Florida. She’s been making personalized quilts and hand delivering them to families of fallen officers in conjunction with the 9463 Foundation as a volunteer for close to ten years. A retired legal secretary, she moved to Florida 10 years ago and ever since she has been volunteering at the foundation and also with South Florida Rest (aka Canteen), an organization that hydrates firefighters and police officers while on call at emergency scenes. When she’s not making quilts or helping hydrate first responders, she’s sewing masks. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she has made more than 9,300 masks and donated them to police and fire agencies, hospitals and others all over the country with patriotic or specific meaningful fabrics.
Keime is a self-proclaimed heart warrior from Cutler Bay. At 17 years of age, the Florida native was a senior in high school with a promising dance career and her whole life in front of her, when she was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Her life changed forever when she learned that hers would be a lifetime of medication, testing and treatments, including having a defibrillator implanted into her chest. Seven years later, she came to terms with the diagnosis and decided to do something positive about it. She launched the HeartCharged Instagram page to spread awareness, built her own website and created her own 501C-3 nonprofit, HeartCharged. She puts on community heart screenings, donates defibrillators and speaks at schools. And she’s even helping to change the law. “We just got a law passed in Florida to get CPR and AED training for high school students, which can prevent death from sudden cardiac arrest,” Keime says. “Next year, we’re working on getting heart screenings for all kids in Florida. Many heart conditions have no recognizable symptoms. With screenings, deaths can be prevented.”
Rogers is the Operations Fire Chief at Marion County Fire Rescue in Ocala. A firefighter for 20 years, he’s made it his mission to inspire and mentor others who may be headed down the wrong path. “I joined the fire service from a little bit of shaky background,” Rogers says. “I wasn’t sure where I was going in life and at times, like a lot of kids, I made some bad choices, but becoming a firefighter changed my life, and I want to do that for others.” He’s been instrumental in operating the mentorship program at MCFR; he secured funding and support to build a 7,000-square-foot gym to help cadets stay fit to pass their physical ability tests and for his crew to stay mentally and physically fit; and he works with students at the fire career academy to help them find a career path they can stay on for life.
