Meadows service group names new executive director

Meadows Community Services of Rolling Meadows, a social services organization offering emergency assistance and programs that strengthen low-income and immigrant families, named Bruce Bailey its new executive director.

Bailey, who previously served 25 years with the Salvation Army, served at youth and music camps in Peru, Ecuador and Chile. He's also worked in Chicago's inner city and has overseen hundreds of employees and thousands of volunteers throughout Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, initiating community needs studies, establishing visionary plans and leading core programs.

• Vince Banglardi of Long Grove received the 2007 EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award, as part of the Exceptional Parent's Disability Awareness Night program Sept. 27, at U.S. Cellular One Field.

The award was presented to Banglardi for his work with disabled individuals, who are receiving services from Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago.

Banglardi has been a volunteer and contributor to Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago for 20 years.

• Rita Lopieski, regional director of community life for Pathway Senior Living and Victory Centre of Bartlett, earned the certified activity director national certification from the National Certification Council for Activity Professionals, the certifying body for professionals who work with the elderly.

Lopienski, a registered music therapist with more than 20 years of experience providing programs for older adults, also holds certification in volunteer management and is a Certified Activity Consultant. She is founder of Activity Professionals of Retirement Communities and a member of the Illinois Activity Professionals Association.

Active in the community, Lopienski directs music at Christ Community Church in Schaumburg, is president of the Bartlett Woman's Club and vice president of Arts in Bartlett. She is also an adjunct instructor at Harper College and on staff with the College of DuPage Older Adult Institute.

• Mount Prospect resident Amy J. Principi was elected the fourth president of the Wahlert Foundation, succeeding her father, Robert H. Wahlert.

A graduate of Wahlert High School, Dubuque, Iowa, and Albion College, Albion, Mich., Principi holds a master of business administration degree from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Founded in 1948, The Wahlert Foundation has contributed to support education, the underserved, healthcare programs, the arts and many other causes, primarily in the Dubuque, Iowa, area.