Adobe Blinds, Helen’s Kitchen winners at Community Awards (photo gallery)

Adobe Blinds and More was the big winner at the 10th annual Community Awards Saturday.

The family-owned company, which specializes in window coverings, won the prestigious Waz Business of the Year Award at the annual event presented by the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce. President Danielle Collazo said the achievement was the result of the entire team’s efforts.

“I’m so proud of them,” she said. “We did it!”

2017 Community Awards

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Team seemed to be the theme of the night.

The entire staff of Helen’s Kitchen was present at Elements Event Center to accept the Small Business of the Year Award. Owner Helen Ford, too, credited her crew for the success of the restaurant and catering business.

Maricopa Police Chief Steve Stahl received the Civil Servant of the Year Award and immediately said he was going to give it a place of honor for the entire department and not him.

The Nonprofit of the Year Award went to The Streets Don’t Love You Back, founded by the husband-and-wife team of Rob and Lucinda Boyd and recently accepted as a program in the Arizona Department of Corrections. Lucinda gave a heart-felt speech about the difficult backgrounds both of them survived.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from, bad things happen to good people,” she said. “So we got together and said, ‘Let’s take The Streets Don’t Love You Back and let’s go out and educate kids against gangs, drugs, violence and abuse.’ And so that’s what we do.”

The youngest person in the room was 15-year-old Evan Grace, who beat out the adults for the Renate Chamberlain Volunteer of the Year Award.

“It’s pretty cool, because they had a lot more things that they could do,” he said.

To learn more about Evan and his community efforts, look for the February issue of InMaricopa.

Michelle Avery Schaefer of MM Solutions received the award as Sonny Dunn Citizen of the Year for her work with Maricopa Pantry.

Educator of the Year was Christine Dickinson of Maricopa Elementary School. She was a key player in Maricopa Unified School District’s successful campaign for an override. She could not attend the ceremony, but her award was picked up by Governing Board President Patti Coutre, who said it would be presented at a future board meeting.

See nominees list