Clarkston Community Award winners. Back row, from left, Matt Lumetta, Russ Milano and DJ Zezula. Front row, from left, Issabella Chappell, Julie Meredith, Christine Rogers and Tanya Carson. Photos by Megan Kelley

By Megan Kelley
Editor
mkelley@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — On May 14, community members in Clarkston and Independence Township gathered at Clarkston Community Church to celebrate the honorees for this year’s Clarkston Community Awards.
The celebration is a joint effort by the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce, Independence Township, the City of the Village of Clarkston, Clarkston Community Schools, the Clarkston Independence District Library, the Clarkston Optimist Club and other organizations throughout the area.
“This is such a great event because it really is all different areas of our community coming together,” said Amy Laboissonniere, Community Relations Coordinator for Independence Township Parks, Recreation & Seniors and also sits on the Clarkston Chamber’s Board of Directors.
Each year, eight awards are given out: Community Enhancement, Community Collaboration, Community Preservation/Beautification, Adult/Youth Volunteer, Business Person of the Year, Youth of the Year, Citizen of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.
“It’s all about the people. Doing this, I think, really reminds people about giving back to our community and inspiring others to continue to give back. I really love, especially, the youth volunteers because you really see the impact of teaching the kids while they’re young to give back to the community and get involved. That part is really significant for me,” Laboissonniere said. “I grew up here, so for me, seeing people that I’ve worked alongside, that I’ve watched grow into their roles of being leaders in the community, it’s just really cool to see them get some recognition.”
Community Enhancement – The Matt Boczar Foundation
DJ Zezula, one of the founding members of the Matt Boczar Foundation accepted the award for Community Enhancement.
The Matt Boczar foundation was founded in 2016 under the name The Clarkston Player’s Association with the goal of helping fund pay-to-participate fees for football players at Clarkston.
After the sudden passing of founding member Matt Boczar, the foundation was renamed in his honor. Since then, the foundation has expanded its mission to help athletes of all sports and all ages and all genders.
“We give back to our community and want to increase the amount of student athletes and young student athletes,” Zezula said. “We will step in and pay their way so they can play that sport, so they can be a part of that group and make those lifelong memories that we were so fortunate to make.”
To date, the foundation has given financial support to over 45 athletes at Clarkston Schools.
For more information on the Matt Boczar Foundation, visit themattboczarfoundation.com.
Community Collaboration – Clarkston Community Schools Academic Service Learning Program
Accepting the award for Community Collaboration was Christine Rogers, Academic Service Learning Coordinator for Clarkston Community Schools.
ASL has been an important part of Clarkston Schools for 23 years and aims to include service learning into meeting curriculum standards and state benchmarks. Rodgers uses the example of first graders practicing measurement by making tie blankets that can then be donated.
This year, district students participated in 60 projects with over 100 teachers doing projects equating to over 5,300 students participating in at least one project.
“We reach and work with, in a collaborative way, so many groups across the community that it embeds Clarkston kids in our community, it connects, it build intergenerational relationships and it just is a win for everyone,” Rodgers said.
Community Preservation/Beautification – The Community Impact Team
Community Impact (originally My Habitat Clarkston) helps residents in need with home repairs, yard clean up and getting access to nutritious food and is made up of over a dozen churches and other organizations and nonprofits.
Accepting the award was Executive Director of Community Impact, Russ Milano.
“You wouldn’t think that in the Clarkston area that there are people who are living in poverty. There’s a lot of folks that do live in poverty in our area and they don’t have the basic needs to repair their homes, feed their kids and so on. So we are needed to fill the gaps between government programs,” Milano said. “Clarkston has a collaborative environment especially amongst their churches and businesses. They want to work together. We set our pride aside and our ego aside and we all just come together to help those who need a hand up through the Community Impact team.”
Adult/Youth Volunteer – Matt Lumetta
Matt Lumetta accepted the award for Adult/Youth Volunteer for his work volunteering with the Special Olympics program in Clarkston.
Lumetta has a background in coaching Special Olympics and is a special education teacher, so when the program needed another trained volunteer, Lumetta gladly volunteered to help.
“Just to see how awesome it is for my son, his peers and all of our families; just to see how far they came above their unselfishness, how excited they would get when the team scored and how much they just love to be with one another. It was just a really incredible opportunity for them and when you see that and that’s an opportunity that never existed before, it just brightens everyone’s day,” Lumetta said.
Business Person of the Year – Tanya Carson
Tanya Carson was named Business Person of the Year for her work with Clarkston Living Magazine.
Carson does have a writer for the magazine but does most of the work herself, aiming for positivity and to showcase her love for the community.
“I’m very honored for this recognition. I try to do the best thing I can do for everybody in the community whether it’s schools, chamber, optimists, kids in general, I do a lot of different things,” Carson said.
Youth of the Year – Issabella Chappell
Issabella Chappell was named Youth of the Year.
Chappell found her passion in volunteering through church and credits gaining her confidence to winning an essay contest with the Clarkston Area Optimist Club.
“The impact of every small act of kindness inspires me daily. It reminds me that together, we can affect real change. I’m proud of what we have achieved together,” Chappell said.
Most recently, Chappell facilitated a can drive and raised over $500 for Lighthouse Clarkston. She challenged everyone to give back in some way.
Citizen of the Year – Russ Milano
Milano has been involved in the Clarkston community for about 12 years. As previously mentioned, he is the Executive Director for Community Impact.
Milano gave much of the credit for his impact in the community to God and noted that there are many people who work with the organization who had the potential to accept this award as well.
“Jesus tells us, in His word, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and we have neighbors in Clarkston and the surrounding communities that need a hand up to get back on their feet. And that’s what we’re doing through the Community Impact Team offering a hand up with home repairs, yard cleanup and getting access to nutritious food,” Milano said. “Issabella just mentioned, give, give, give, give. And I heard a devotional this week that the way you spell love is G.I.V.E., by giving to people.”
Lifetime Achievement – Julie Meredith
Clarkston Independence District Library Director Julie Meredith was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award. Meredith, who grew up in Clarkston, began volunteering at the library when she was 12-years-old and though her life took her elsewhere over the years, she found herself circling back to Clarkston before eventually becoming the library’s director.
“The library’s mission is to inspire our community to pursue lifelong learning through innovation, education and enrichment. I often get asked, ‘why do we need a library? We have AI, we have Google, we have the internet, we have YouTube.’ Those are just tools. Humans are social creatures. Libraries are about connection, a place where people come together to learn, to grow, to discover,” Meredith said.