New Hires, Promotions and Appointments

Rabih Dow has been hired as the director of program services for The Iris Network. An executive with 20 years of experience in vision rehabilitation therapy, Dow is a graduate of Boston College and has completed graduate coursework in intercultural communications at Lesley College. The Iris Network, based in Portland, serves individuals who are visually impaired or blind throughout the state.

Cardente Real Estate, of Portland, has added Mark Sandler to its commercial brokerage team. Sandler, a lifelong resident of the Portland area, graduated from the University of Tampa with a bachelor’s degree in business management. Previously, he was president of Sandler Brothers, a family-owned food distribution company established in Maine in 1929.

Sebago Technics, a South Portland-based engineering consulting firm, has hired Joshua Eon and Andrew Piccirillo as survey technicians. Eon and Piccirillo both hold bachelor’s degrees in surveying engineering technology from the University of Maine.

Recognition

Consuelo G. Bailey, of Topsham, was recently selected as the first recipient of the Sarah Whitten Community Award, given by the Topsham Public Library Board of Trustees. The award recognizes outstanding service to the library and the community, and is named after the woman who bequeathed her house on Pleasant Street to the town of Topsham to be used as its public library. Bailey is a longtime volunteer who has helped coordinate the library’s many art programs.

Maine Medical Center has been named a “hospital of choice” among women in the categories of breast care, heart care and obstetrics, according to The Women’s Choice Award program. The program is a national ranking that focuses on women’s preferences for hospital care, and is conducted in partnership with the Wharton School of Business.

R.J. Condon, a junior at the Maine College of Art in Portland, was recently awarded a $5,000 scholarship from D.L. Geary Brewing Co. for his 2015 Summer Ale package design. The winning package design will appear on 1 million bottles of D.L. Geary Brewing’s Summer Ale over the next six months. More than 40 artists competed in the design competition, now in its 15th year.

Giving Back

According to tallies released in February from the Maine Bar Association, the state’s legal community in 2014 contributed $540,000 in legal representation to needy clients. Over 100 attorneys throughout the state participated in providing funds and help as part of the association’s annual campaign. Among the local firms contributing were Bernstein Shur, of Portland, which contributed more than $62,000.

Skillful Home Recreation, based in Portland, donated a portion of its sale proceeds in November and December of 2014 to support The Center for Grieving Children. The company, which sells home recreation products throughout Maine, contributed more than $3,300 to the center, a nonprofit group that helps kids safely express grief and loss.

Grants

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation has recently awarded nearly $2.9 million in grants to 710 nonprofit organizations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Among the 2014 grant recipients were: MaineHealth, of Portland, which received $500,000 for its program to prevent childhood obesity; Cultivating Community, of Portland, which received $15,000 for garden construction and scholarship; and the Yarmouth Community Garden, of Yarmouth, which received $3,100 for garden irrigation equipment.

Levey Day School, a private Jewish school in Portland teaching pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade classes, was recently awarded a grant from the Daveis Benevolent Fund of the Maine Community Foundation to update the school’s anti-bullying program. In addition, the school will use the funding to purchase materials and train additional teachers in the program.

New Beginnings

Anthropologie, the country-wide retailer of apparel and home accessories, is opening its first Maine location this week in Portland. The store will open Friday, March 6, at 66 Pearl St., in the Old Port district.

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