We Enjoy Giving Back to Members of Our Winona Community
Participating in the Bryant Community Heroes program that Bryant® Heating & Cooling Systems sponsors every year is a must for our team. The program recognizes a resident in our immediate area who is doing extraordinary things to make a difference in the community. The winner is rewarded with a brand-new furnace from Bryant that our team installs free-of-charge. We’ve happily participated in this program since its launch in 2015—our team looks forward to it each and every year.
2020 Bryant Community Heroes Nominations Are Open
Nominate a local frontline worker, essential employee, or neighborhood hero here.
These Deserving Winners Received a FREE Furnace Installation
Our 2017 Bryant Community Hero is Debi Klicka, who lives right here in Winona. She was nominated for her dedication to the community by Shauna Fenske and Jeremy Klicka, who describe Debi as kind, caring, fun loving, and generous—“she leaves sparkle wherever she goes and with whoever she knows!”
Debi is an educational daycare professional in Winona, and has been for nearly 30 years. She has always been inspired to help children become happy, healthy, productive citizens. She’s passionate about positively impacting the lives of the little ones in her daycare program, as well as their families and many others in her neighborhood. Her goal is to bring out the best in everyone she meets and cares for.
Debi’s bright and shining personality radiates in all she does, and it was our pleasure to reward her with a free furnace installation that radiates warmth throughout her home.
In 2016, Kaitlyn Rollinger nominated her mother, Kathy Rollinger, in hopes of making her a Bryant Community Hero. Kaitlyn stressed the positive difference her mother makes in the community—and how she has taught Kaitlyn to do the same through leading by example.
From a young age, Kaitlyn saw how her mother would volunteer to help out however she could—whether it was getting involved with the PTA at school or joining the Winona Rotary. Since then, her mother, Kathy, has gone on to start her own company and create a Feed My Starving Children team which has packaged over 100,000 meal packs to ship to third-world countries.
Kaitlyn finished her nomination by saying: “I have nominated my mom as my hero because she has brought me to realize, with the many examples she has set, that if you put your heart and mind into something you are passionate about, you can achieve anything—and that you CAN make a difference in this world, no matter how big or small.”
The River City Heating team was proud to install a brand-new Bryant furnace in Kathy’s home to keep her warm and comfortable for years to come! We couldn’t have selected a more rewarding individual.
In 2015, our hero was Kay Pedretti—a selfless, caring individual who continuously goes above and beyond to help out those in need. She was nominated by Sara Hallberg, who met Kay through union meetings both individuals were attending. The two quickly bonded and became more acquainted with one another outside of the regular meetings.
Kay was there for Sara when she needed her most—whether attending additional meetings with Sara as her support system or watching her home and caring for her pets while she was away. Kay is dedicated to helping people and has given up countless hours beyond her full-time job and personal life to help those in need—and she never expects accolades or anything in return. This is why Sara felt the need to nominate Kay and give someone so rewarding a chance to win a new heating system.
The River City Heating team did select Kay as our 2015 Bryant Community Hero, but after we inspected her current four-year-old furnace, Kay said she preferred to keep her like-new system. Instead, she wanted to pay it forward by giving the new furnace to Sara, who had recently lost her job and was in need of a new system to replace her 19-year-old furnace.
Their story just goes to show how willing our local community is to help one another and that there are a lot of very caring people in this world. Our team was proud to be involved in such a giving situation.
