Carol Stream honors residents for service

Maria Depa can see the irony of Carol Stream's annual awards program to honor its most dedicated area volunteers.

"It's funny because it's essentially a group of volunteers volunteering to honor other volunteers," said Depa, a longtime president of the Glenbard North High School Parent-Teacher-Student Association.

Depa was honored over the weekend with the village's Special Citizen of the Year award for her work with both the Carol Stream high school and the school district.

Depa has served on several committees at the school, helped with several of the Glenbard High School District 87 referendums, and has helped with the school's booster groups.

"When you're honored like that you almost feel guilty," Depa said. "I'm in the process of writing thank-you cards to a lot of these people."

Depa was one of four people honored Saturday at the 42nd annual Citizen of the Year banquet at the Carol Stream Holiday Inn.

Carol Stream resident Darrel Malcom was also honored for his continuing years of service to the community.

Malcom was one of the founding members of the village's chamber of commerce. He recently helped organize the Fox Valley chapter of Kids Against Hunger, an organization that sends meals to impoverished countries.

Malcom's group recently sent more than 100,000 individual meals to Nicaragua through the help of another aid organization.

"I feel particularly honored since this award came locally," he said. "It's my 22nd year living in Carol Stream. I've attended all these banquets and didn't expect to be receiving any plaques."

In addition to Depa and Malcom, Carol Stream residents Linda Court and Ken Cerabona also were recognized with the annual Citizen of the Year awards.

The Citizen of the Year Committee was formed in 1965 to recognize individuals who have made great strides in improving the town's character.