Deb Maley: Caring For Her Community

Deb Maley goes the extra mile as an employee at Kohl's department store in Troy. As a participant in the Kohl’s Cares program, she volunteers much of her time in local projects with other employees.

“It’s not required; it’s all on a volunteer basis,” said Maley, who has lived in Clawson for 35 years. “A lot of the events are really fun— especially when there is a group of kids to work with.”

Maley has taken part in the program for the past three years and volunteered in more than 100 events in 2011 alone. The volunteer program supports kids' health and education, environmental initiatives and women's health.

A good chunk of the volunteering Maley participates in is within her own community. She, along with fellow Kohl’s co-workers, have helped out with the Optimists Club, and elementary schools, , Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and more. For example, at the Farmers Market they have sold food and helped out in the kids area.

“I do a lot for (Mayor Penny Luebs) and do a lot for Troy too since our store is in Troy," Maley said. "We’ve also gone into Rochester, Detroit, Sterling Heights, Berkley; all over."

Rebecca Tews, a PTA member at Kenwood, said she calls Maley for volunteer projects at the school five to six times a year. She said Maley has helped out with dances, field days, fun fairs and other events at the school.

"We truly appreciate all the work she has done," Tews said. "She's just a great person all the way around."

In addition to being a volunteer, she is also the administrator of Kohl's Cares, coordinating all of the volunteer activities at the store in Troy.

One of the challenging parts of being the captain of the program is finding enough people available, and willing to help at all of the events. Which is why Maley pencils herself into about 90 percent of the events that Kohl’s Cares participates in.

“Some people don’t want to drive too far, so for a lot of the far ones I will bring people with me,” Maley said.

Maley said Kohl’s makes an unofficial competition out of which district lends a hand the most each year. Maley's store has won for the past three years— something she is proud of. Maley currently works part-time at Kohl’s as a customer service representative, and is able to do much of her administrative work, such as filling out paperwork and making phone calls to those in need of volunteers, onsite at the department store.

One of Maley’s favorite parts about volunteering for the program is meeting all of the new people, especially Clawson and Troy residents.

“I’ve gotten to know the people that we do events for; some are residents of Clawson that I meet for the first time through this,” Maley said. “Sometimes I even call some of them when it doesn’t have anything to do with events.”

Maley said that some months she is volunteering so frequently it is hard to find time for other things outside of work and volunteering. She noted that spring, fall and around Christmas are typically the busiest. When she does have extra time on her hands Maley likes to go camping, travel and visit relatives.

Local Editor Nicquel Terry contributed to this report.