In the News
Daily Press Article, June 28, 2021
Cabinets for a Cause contest returns to Williamsburg area, this time to celebrate teachers
Many people say that the kitchen is the heart of the home. But for Kristin Reid, remodeling her kitchen didn’t just transform her home –– it changed her life.
Reid was last year’s inaugural winner of Prestige Cabinet’s Cabinets for a Cause contest, organized by the company’s owner, Doug Hogue. The contest winner receives a full kitchen makeover, complete with new appliances, flooring, and of course, cabinets. Community members nominate someone special from a specific field –– last year, because of the pandemic, it was nursing, and this year, it’s teaching.
Hogue said he has been in contact with the community engagement director for the Williamsburg-James City County School District, who is particularly excited for this year’s makeover.
Starting July 1, community members can visit the Prestige Cabinet’s website at prestigecabinets.biz and go to the Cabinets for a Cause tab, where there will be a nomination form for impactful K-12 teachers from schools within the 23188 and 23185 ZIP codes. People will be able to include a story about the impact their nominee has had on the community or their school and why they think they are deserving of a new kitchen. Nominations close July 30.
Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced health workers, especially nurses such as Reid, to work overtime and face isolation from their families, Hogue decided that they would focus the contest to support them.
Though Reid has been a nurse for about 11 years, she had just returned to hospital work at Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg in December 2019, months before the pandemic hit. Reid had worked in hospitals five years prior, the return to the acute care setting was an intense adjustment.
Nurses at Doctors’ Hospital would take turns working in the COVID isolation unit. Before Reid’s hospitals got heavy-duty respirators for their staff, Reid was particularly scared about bringing home the disease to her and her husband’s parents.
“Every time I went in the isolation area, I actually isolated from our parents or anyone besides just my husband and our two kids,” Reid described. If she wasn’t able to shower after work, she would have her kids stay in their rooms until she was able to shower and change clothes at home.
By July, right when the Cabinets for a Cause contest opened their nominations, things at the hospital started to calm down. But Reid never stopped putting in the extra effort for her patients.
Hogue had put up flyers for the contest around Reid’s hospital, leading many of Reid’s patients to nominate her. Out of around 60 nominations, Reid was nominated 18 times, the most of any other contestant. Many of Reid’s nominations highlighted her hardworking, optimistic and kind nature. For many patients, their nurses were the only source of human interaction they could get when COVID restricted hospital visits.
“When I walk into a room and meet my patient, I like to picture them as my grandpa, my grandparent, or my mom or my dad, and how I would want them to be treated,” Reid said. “At that moment, the patient is the most important, and they need your care –– and that was even more important during COVID.”
Several of Reid’s family members, coworkers, former patients, and even the president of her hospital surprised her with the news outside her work, informing her that she had won the contest in September.
Surprising Reid at the hospital was the most memorable moment of the whole experience for Hogue.
“Seeing her face just kind of light up in there with their family, it was just a really joyous occasion to honor her and what she’s done in the community,” Hogue said, adding that seeing how happy Reid’s family was and how much it would later change their lives made all the work more than worth it.
Hogue’s team got to work right away with the goal of completing the makeover by Thanksgiving, just in time for the holidays. The business came together with 13 other small businesses in the greater Williamsburg area, including plumbers, designers, electricians and more.
Within weeks, Hogue and his partners had not just transformed Reid’s beige and outdated space into a bright, modern farmhouse look, but had also installed new flooring throughout most of the first floor and painted the walls of the kitchen and living room at no additional cost. It was more than Reid could have ever imagined.
Walking around her new kitchen, Reid beams at the spacious sink, which is especially useful with pickling and canning vegetables. Outside, Reid takes care of a small garden and several chickens, and she found that her new kitchen further inspired her love of fresh produce and cooking.
After the kitchen makeover, Reid has also found that her children are more eager to help out with cooking. Her daughter, who will be 5 in July, never showed much interest in helping in the kitchen, but now loves to help mix ingredients. Reid is planning to write down all her recipes in a family cookbook for them to share together.
The final market valuation of the remodel was around $30,000-$40,000, according to Hogue. But none of the small businesses he worked with ever hesitated to donate their time and supplies.
When COVID first hit, nobody really knew how it was going to impact their business from a financial standpoint,” Hogue said. “Seeing these other small businesses say without a doubt that they would be willing to step in and help –– it was pretty cool, seeing everybody come together.”
Gaya Gupta, 757-446-2986, gaya.gupta@virginiamedia.com
Daily Press Article, July 3, 2020
After boosting employee morale during COVID-19, Prestige Cabinets looks to help local health care worker
Owners of Prestige Cabinets, Doug and Terrah Hogue, in Toano knew once the pandemic hit that they needed to do something to help out the community during the hard times.
“We make cabinets, we can’t really make face masks or anything like that, so I thought maybe let’s try to support business that are being hit volume wise,” he said.
Hogue and his wife, Terrah, decided to give back to their community as well as their employees by buying lunch for their roughly 25 person staff every Friday from a local restaurant.
“I know the morale was high, especially in times where everybody was a little bit concerned and worried about what was going to happen. Having them go out of their way, showing us that they appreciate us showing up every day and taking that chance. It went a long way,” said Mike Wiscott, operations manager.
For eight weeks in a row they bought lunch for their employees and shouted out the local businesses on the company’s Facebook page. Some of the businesses that they supported included El Sabor Mexicano, Jimmy’s Oven & Grill, Daddyo’s Tavern and others.
In addition to the weekly lunches, the Hogues decided to launch a new endeavor that had been in the works for a while, but sped up once the pandemic hit.
On June 12, they announced Cabinets for a Cause, a free kitchen makeover to one deserving health care worker.
Members of the community are encouraged to nominate an eligible health care worker from Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center or Riverside Doctors’ Hospital Williamsburg. The nomination period runs the entire month of July.
Hogue said he wants to make this a yearly giveaway and plans to dedicate each year to a different type of profession such as teachers, EMTs, police officers, etc.
“Someone in our community who sacrifices a lot day in and out, but maybe goes unnoticed,” he said.
The kitchen makeover, appraised for anywhere from $30,000-50,000, according to Hogue, will be entirely free for the chosen recipient.
Prestige Cabinets has partnered with seven other local businesses for the makeover, including Kathryn Salyer Design & Renovation, Signature Stone Corp., Owens Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., and four others. Ferguson will also be helping with the appliance package.
If you wish to nominate an eligible health care worker for this giveaway, please visit prestigecabinets.biz/cabinets-for-a-cause.
Abigail Adcox, 757-222-5320, aadcox@virginiamedia.com
International Woodworking Fair, July 1, 2020
Prestige Cabinets Offers Free Kitchen Makeover to Honor Healthcare Workers
Prestige Cabinets has announced a call for nominations in its inaugural Cabinets for a Cause program, which honors a deserving member of the company's local community, by providing a complete kitchen makeover at no charge.
Prestige Cabinets and its partner companies will "recognize these selfless individuals and reward them with a dream kitchen makeover," donating all design, labor, and materials to create the winner's dream kitchen. Other participants include Custom Quarters Painting, Ferguson plumbing supplies, Grimsley Custom Plumbing, Kathryn Salyer Design & Renovation, Owens Heating and Air, Signature Stone, and Williamson Wicker & Patio.
The inaugural Cabinets for a Cause 2020 will benefit a deserving member of the local healthcare community, to recognize the dedication and hard work of healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 global pandemic. One selfless hero will be rewarded in the Cabinets for a Cause program.
Prestige Cabinets is a family-owned and operated small business. Owned by husband and wife team, Doug and Terrah Hogue, they strive to create a value-centered company that offers quality cabinetry while supporting their team and contributing to their community.
Doug is a graduate of the VCU School of Business with a concentration in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship. Terrah is a graduate of William and Mary's School of Business with a degree in Accounting. Together they have shared goals of providing high-quality cabinetry at competitive prices while offering the highest level of service to their clients.
Eligible are nurses, environmental service workers, and lab technicians at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Hospital and Riverside Doctor's Hospital of Williamsburg.