We are so honored to select four statewide community standouts for our annual contest, “CGI Heroes: Celebrating Strength”, to recognize Florida residents who have gone above and beyond to help others, with a $1,000 cash prize each.
Read about each of our finalists below and help choose the grand prize winner who will receive an additional cash prize of $5,000.
Voting is now open. Click here to support your favorite CGI Hero!
Tori Mason, Drew Rogers, Janet Woods, and Bethany Keime were all nominated and selected as statewide finalists for their commitment to assisting others. Giving back has always been part of our company culture at CGI Windows & Doors. That philosophy fueled the launch of the inaugural contest in 2020 and the expanded statewide contest in 2021.
Tori Mason
Tori Mason is a school resource officer with the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office in Destin/Ft. Walton Beach. 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.
Janet Mason
Janet 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. “I don’t think there’s a quilt I make that doesn’t have a teardrop on it,” she says. A retired legal secretary, she moved to Florida ten 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. “We bring water, Gatorade, snacks, and food to first responders who are at the scene of an accident, a fire, a SWAT call, or wherever they need us,” she says. When she’s not making quilts or helping hydrate first responders, she’s sewing masks. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she 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.
Bethany Keime
Bethany 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 the number one killer on school campuses and leading killer of student-athletes. Her life changed forever when she fatefully found out that she has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. A lifetime of medication, testing, and treatments began, 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 501(c)(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,” she 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.”
Drew Rogers
Drew Rogers is the Operations Fire Chief at Marion County Fire Rescue (MCFR) 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,” he 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 tirelessly with students at the fire career academy to help them find a career path they can stay on for life. “A lot of our chiefs are great at many things – analytics, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations. For me, the biggest thing I am good at and enjoy the most is building a culture of wellness and community to support our firefighter family in whatever ways possible.”
We accepted nominations from April 6 through April 22 and four winners were selected by executives. The grand prize winner will be chosen with an online voting campaign beginning May 14 and ending on May 28. To learn more about the contest winners, and to vote, visit cgiwindows.com/heroes. The winner will be announced on June 1 on the CGI social media channels.
“These four Florida residents represent the definition of a community hero,” said 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.”
