Make a Difference Awards

Do well by doing good

Bruce and Cheryl Scheiner have seen a lot change since they first made Fort Myers their home in 1971. The one constant over five decades, however, has been the uplifting spirit of our Southwest Florida community. Bruce and Cheryl learned early on that a community is nothing more than the expression of the values and commitment of its members. The strength of a community is forged by the number of people who embrace, and actively undertake, the mission to make a positive difference. After nearly 3 decades of supporting local causes and charities, Cheryl founded the Make A Difference program of Associates & Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, in 1998.

Cheryl had witnessed firsthand the difference that kindness, compassion, and hard work can make in the lives of our neighbors and the strength of our community. Cheryl created the Make a Difference program to promote public service amongst the youth in our community. Make A Difference rewards exceptional young students for their commitment, compassion, and dedication to making Southwest Florida a better place to live. Throughout the years Make a Difference award recipients have achieved extraordinary feats, from touching the hearts of families of fallen first responders, to feeding children for a year, and providing awareness and support for mental health in our community. Many winners have gone so far as to create their own organizations to advance their mission of service. By recognizing and motivating these young leaders the Scheiner family hopes to make their commitment contagious.

In the words of their son P.J. Scheiner - who now practices with the firm as a trial attorney, "The values and leadership of our community is shaped by what we recognize, what we reward, and what we choose to promote. The Make a Difference Award is our effort to promote the compassion, kindness, and service that then forges a fairer, kinder, and more just community. We know that every community is ultimately only as strong as the next generation of local leadership." As a firm that is dedicated to fighting for justice, all of us at Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured are grateful for the opportunity to give back to the community - our home - that we have had the privilege of serving for decades.