Retiring CEO honored at annual Sterling Event

Friendship Village of Schaumburg honored Robert M. Alston, its long-time president and chief executive officer, with the annual Sterling Friendship Award. Alston, who also heads parent organization Friendship Senior Options, is planning to retire in January following 13 years of service.

The award, established to honor people age 65 and older who provide positive examples for living and giving, was bestowed at the 12^th annual Sterling Friendship Award Event on Sept. 25. The event was held on the Friendship Village campus to celebrate indoor and outdoor spaces created by a recent expansion under Alston’s leadership.

“With his ongoing contributions both at Friendship Village and within the field of aging services, Bob is a perfect example of the qualities that the Sterling Award was created to recognize,” said Jan L. Tucker, chair of the not-for-profit Friendship Senior Service Foundation, which stages the annual fund-raising event.

This year’s Sterling Event was themed “An Evening With a Southern Gentleman,” a bow to Alston’s courtly manners and roots in Augusta, Ga. Alston joined the field of aging services after taking a master’s in divinity from Emory University and managing the successful fill-up of a federally subsidized housing community for older adults in Atlanta. He subsequently served in leadership roles for Pacific Homes Inc. and FACT Retirement Services in California prior to joining Friendship Village in January 1997 as the fourth executive in the organization’s 32-year history.

This year’s Sterling Event began with a reception in the community’s newest neighborhood, Bridgewater Place. Dinner was served in the Wintergarden, with an awards ceremony in the Assembly Hall of Friendship Center, a new campus community center.

This year’s event was co-chaired by Tom and Carol Johnson of Elgin. Tom Johnson, emeritus dean of William Rainey Harper College of Palatine, ischair of the Friendship Senior Options Board of Directors.

The proceeds from the event benefitted the Land Stewardship Fund and the Friendship Fund, which allows residents who have outlived their resources to continue living at Friendship Village.