By Soldiers and Families Embraced

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – On a chilly Thursday morning, nearly one hundred community leaders and supporters of Soldiers And Families Embraced breakfast watched the threatening snow from the top floor of F&M Bank downtown. The crowd was there both to help raise funds for SAFE, which offers free counseling to military and their families, and to watch as the 2nd annual SAFE Community Heroes Award was given to Carol D. Clark.

The annual breakfast this year celebrated the courage and tireless giving of military family members and caregivers, said SAFE Director Rev. Jodi McCullah. “Not only was she a military spouse for years, Carol also has been a tireless supporter of and advocate statewide for veterans in higher education.”

According to SAFE Board President Phil Harpel, “In addition to serving on SAFE’s board for the past two years, our recipient this year is someone who has tirelessly worked in this community as an advocate for active duty, veterans and their families for almost 10 years. Her ties to the military are deep; her husband is a Retired USAF Master Sergeant and her father, father-in-law, son-in-law, and numerous other family members are all veterans.”

Carol has been executive assistant to the president at APSU since 2005 and previously served as director of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center. She earned a Master of Arts in communication in 2005 and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a management concentration in 1997, both from APSU. She also is an Educational Leadership Doctoral Candidate at WKU.

She is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee and a member of the Leadership Clarksville Class of 2001. In addition, this year’s recipient serves on the APSU President’s Cabinet and President’s Circle of Advisers. She is an executive committee member of the United Way of the Greater Clarksville Area, and an active volunteer with the Rivers and Spires festival.

Carols also serves as a member of the TN Veteran’s Education Task Force, chairs the APSU Military Education Task Force and serves on the Board of Directors of Soldiers And Families Embraced. She has two children and two grandchildren.

“Her efforts have touched the lives of so many, and we are lucky to be able to count her as a colleague, a supporter of SAFE, and as a friend,” said McCullah.