Meet Dearborn's Service Person Of The Year

DEARBORN, MI — What does a true service person look like in Dearborn? Well if you ask this year's awardee, it means giving of yourself in any area you can. Just ask Robery Ziolkowski, who is involved in more than a dozen activities to serve the community.

At their 58th annual Thanks for Giving Luncheon on Nov. 13, the Inter-Service Club Council (ISCC) honored members of its organizations for their dedication to serving the Dearborn community. Ziolkowski, member of the Dearborn Rotary Club, was named the ISCC’s Service Person of the Year at the luncheon.

The 2018 Service Person of the Year, Ray Scaboria of the Dearborn Kiwanis Club, presented Ziolkowski with his award.

Ziolkowski, who previously served as president of the Rotary Club from 2009-2010, has shown a deep commitment to the betterment of the Dearborn community, organizers say.

During his time with the Rotary Club, Ziolkowski has been involved in numerous beneficial programs, including the Adopt-A-Highway and Telegraph Clean-Up programs, the Dearborn Homecoming Fishing Derby, the Salvation Army Lunch Assemblage, multiple scholarship selection committees and the Dearborn Law Day Essay Contest.

Notably, Ziolkowski was instrumental in developing the Rotary Club’s Red Badge program, which mentors new club members. Ziolkowski currently serves as board director of communications, through which he assists in facilitating the Rotary Club’s social media accounts.

He also serves as a member of the Launch Detroit committee, a micro-loan program for entrepreneurs in underserved areas of Metro Detroit that is run primarily by Rotary volunteers.

Ziolkowski’s commitment to the community goes beyond his work with the Rotary Club. He has worked with “Operation Rebound,” an independent living transition program for homeless teenagers in Wayne County, and is a board member for “Blue Light, Inc.” which provides independent living services for adults with developmental disabilities.

He was also involved in the creation of a Homeless Youth Coalition, which brings together programs that support homeless youth with the State Department of Child Welfare. In addition, he spent three years volunteering to teach classes at the State of Michigan’s Women’s Correctional Prison.

The nomination comment for Ziolkowski stated that “Robert Ziolkowski is indeed a community asset by helping to build goodwill and better friendships, and by making things beneficial to all concerned.”