This year, Crystal Air & Water is proud to honor the extraordinary heroes within our community. In recognition of their bravery and selflessness, we are giving away a state-of-the-art Trane air conditioning and heating system to one remarkable local hero.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who shared their stories with us. We’ve been deeply moved by the incredible tales of courage, duty, and sacrifice that have come our way.
After much thoughtful consideration, we are excited to present the following finalists, each of whom exemplifies heroism in their own unique way. Now, we invite you to play a part in this celebration by casting your vote for the hero you believe most deserves this life-changing prize.
While every nominee is immensely deserving, only one will be named the winner. Cast your vote today and help us honor their incredible service!
Voting will be live through midnight October 15, 2024.
Voting Ends In:
Learn About the Nominees
Hannah Mesh
Hannah is an amazing single mom of two who is hard-working and juggles so many things, including being a caregiver for her dad. She is not afraid of a challenge. I have seen her work two jobs while going to college and raising her two beautiful children. She is a 30-year-old single mother of two children, Riley a girl who is 9 years old and Miles, a boy who is two years old. They are lovely, well-behaved children. Hannah has worked at least two jobs for as long as I can remember. She is a very hard worker, trying to provide a good life for her children and seize every opportunity that she can for them - in other words, she's a real go-getter! She currently works as a FIRST first responder in the Alachua County Sheriff's Office 9-1-1 Center, where she answers 9-1-1 calls, and dispatches Police and Fire units to the citizens of Alachua County during emergencies and crises. She strives to treat every citizen as though they were her own family members. Additionally, she works for Alachua County Fire Department's E 9-1-1 Coordinator's Office, ensuring that the citizens' addresses and phone numbers within the E9-1-1 system are correct in order to ensure the fastest service possible. In addition to working two jobs, and raising two children, she also cares for her elderly and ailing father, who is a lifelong Type 1 diabetic, which could be a full-time job in and of itself.
Joei Cataldo
I am nominating my husband and I as we are both prior military as well as currently employed in the medical and law enforcement field. My husband served in the Iraqi Freedom Tour overseas with the US Navy. He and I met when he crossed over into the US Army. He is currently a surgical technologist with Shands Hospital and I am a 911 call taker with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office. We have 2 children, 5 and 11, as well as my senior father who moved in with us a couple of years ago. We have a home that was built in the 70s and the AC is 20 years old. It has had numerous repairs and left us with no AC and an in house temperature of over 80 degrees many summers. Our electric bill is consistently $400-$500 because it's running but unable to keep up with the Florida heat. It has needed to be replaced for years but unfortunately in this economy we cannot afford a 6-10 thousand dollar bill or debt. We have been getting it repaired and dragging out its life for as long as possible but this would be an amazing blessing if we were able to get it replaced. Thank you so much!
Joseph Locke
Branch of Service: U.S. Army
Rank: E-7
Years of Service: 1984-2004
SFC Locke proudly served in the US Army/National Guard for 20 years, dedicating his life to the defense and protection of our nation. Enlisting in 1984, he embarked on a distinguished career that took him to Ft. Still OK, Ft Benning GA, Ft Liberty NC, Schofield Barracks HI, Florida National Guard and also deployed to Turkey and Thailand where he exemplified courage, resilience, and leadership. During his service, SFC Locke earned the respect of his peers and superiors alike through his commitment to duty, integrity, and teamwork. His notable achievements include Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Overseas Service ribbon, Soldier of the year award, and numerous other awards leading a platoon during hurricane support and riot control. SFC Locke has also served in support of the Gulf War and numerous other duties while serving in Active Duty. These honors reflect his dedication to the ideals of honor, courage, and selflessness that define our military.
Since transitioning out of active duty, SFC Locke continues to demonstrate the same determination and community spirit he showed in uniform. After leaving active duty SFC Locke worked at the VA hospital to help doctors with internet integration. He has been employed with University of Florida P.K. Yonge DRS for over 24 years.
Joe Locke, received the University of Florida’s Superior Accomplishment Award from the University of Florida. During his more than 24-year tenure at P.K. Yonge, Joe has managed P.K. Yonge’s network and equipment from its humble beginnings with 150 desktop computers sprinkled throughout campus to a robust wireless infrastructure supporting the demands of more than 1,500 devices streaming content throughout the school day. Most recently, Joe’s work ensured that school continued for the P.K. Yonge community as they navigated the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joe’s work at P.K. Yonge has always been notable, and his commitment to his work and campus community in the context of our school’s response to the pandemic has been extraordinary. When the potential for a shift to remote learning appeared imminent, Joe’s efforts quickly turned to researching solutions and problem-solving potential barriers to providing the infrastructure and devices required for at-home instruction for all 1,155 students at P.K. Yonge — from how to prepare and distribute 348 devices for at-home elementary school learners in two days, to locating devices for staff to use from home, supporting faculty, filtering student internet access remotely, and finding solutions for inadequate home internet access.Once the Florida Department of Education announced campus closures in March 2020, Joe’s plans went into action. Hours extended well beyond the end of the work day to accommodate working families’ schedules and connect learners with equipment essential to continue their learning and maintain contact with their school community. With the mass and rapid deployment for devices a success and Virtually PK launched, work after Spring Break began for Joe in maintaining systems and supporting faculty and staff as all work and tech support shifted to a remote model. Ticketing systems that Joe had already established came into their own, and even with a faculty help ticket increase of 300% the system provided responsive and timely support.
The logical flip side to a mass device deployment in a school is a mass intake. Each year, the more than 1,100 devices distributed 1:1 for students from 6th – 12th grade are brought back to the IT department for evaluation, repair, and updates. At the end of the very demanding 2020-21 school year, devices needed to be returned, but this time via a drive-thru drop-off system with the essential addition of COVID-19 protocols. Devices were delivered in June, updated over the summer, and returned for student use in August 2020. Joe and his team worked tirelessly to prepare devices and manage another deployment for more than 800 families with every device updated, repaired, documented and assigned to an individual user. With remnants of the device deployment and troubleshooting ongoing, the 2020-21 school year began with significant demand on the school network and the need for an organized system for addressing device and connectivity issues for on-campus and off-campus students, teachers, and staff. Joe and the IT team also continued to address all of the regular day-to-day responsibilities of the IT department– managing the email system, the campus network and wireless infrastructure, device security, internet filters, the campus asset inventory, device repair and replacement, vendor relationships, school community tech support, and more.
Joseph embodies the values of service and commitment every day. There is truly no one that deserves this giveaway more. Please consider him, he’s a really COOL HERO!