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Lisa Berube: It’s a Wonderful Life

On a recent morning, Lisa Berube had a question for a visitor: Was she saying wonderful, fantastic, or amazing too often? The thought produced a passing look of worry on her face, but enthusiasm soon got the better of her as she described the new charitable group with which she is involved, 100 Women Who Care.

“It’s a wonderful group of women and a wonderful idea,” she said of the organization that will have its next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Gelston House in East Haddam.

Suzie Woodward, who owns Lark in downtown Chester, started the local chapter of 100 Women Who Care (WWC) last August, based on a model taking shape in many other areas throughout the country. The idea is to multiply and magnify the effect of charitable giving by having women work as a group.

When Woodward decided to organize a WWC group in this part of the state, Lisa was one of the people she contacted to be part of the organizing nucleus. Lisa, who lives in Deep River, is an assistant vice president and the branch manager of the Essex Savings Bank in Chester.

“Suzie invited me to be on the steering committee and I had the same mindset as she did about it. I think it is fantastic,” Lisa says, grinning slightly as one of her favorite words popped out of her mouth.

At every WWC meeting, each member can put the name of charitable organization into a hat. Three organizations are drawn and the member who nominated the group gives a five-minute speech on its work. Then members vote on which of the three the group as a whole should donate to. When the numbers are tallied, all the members write a check for $100 to the charitable organization that got the most votes. That means, as Woodward points out, there are no overhead or administrative costs involved in WWC and the larger group donation makes a more discernable impact on the work of the charity.

At the meeting last November, the group voted to makes its first donation of $3,600 to Bare Necessities, a group that provides baby diapers to families in need. The membership of WWC, 36 at the time the donation was made, is now above 40. All interested women are invited to the February meeting, Woodward says, but only those who have already joined can vote.

Recently, Lisa was involved in another civic project through the Essex Saving Bank and the Chester Merchants Association: collecting socks, more than 1,200 pairs, that were donated to Safe Futures, a homeless shelter in New London. Though shelters can accept used clothes for residents, Lisa explains that rules require socks to be new, and shelters for that reason often run short.

Lisa’s community involvement doesn’t stop there. She is both secretary and second vice-president of the Deep River-Chester Lions Club and a member of Chester Rotary. In addition, she is treasurer of the Mid-Middlesex Salvation Army.

Most people, Lisa admits, associate the Salvation Army with Christmas and bells and kettles, but the organization works all year long, usually providing cash assistance for fuel or rent to families in need, usually recommended by local social workers.

She got involved when a Salvation Army representative visited the Social Services Department at Chester Town Hall, which shares the building with the Essex Savings Bank. Lisa thinks Rosie Bininger, the director of Social Services, must have suggested her. The Salvation Army representative came down to Lisa’s office and asked her to serve as treasurer.

“She just showed up and I thought it was a good organization so I said, ‘Yes,’” Lisa recalls.

Although the Essex Savings Bank and Town Hall are located in the same building, Lisa says people don’t wander in thinking the bank is the town office—except for Friday afternoon, when Town Hall closes at noon.

“People do come in then asking for the tax collector or other departments,” she says. “Of course, it’s a great way to get people into the bank.”

Lisa, whose background is French Canadian, grew up in Haddam. She can understand French, but not speak it.

“I knew enough when my mother was yelling at me in French,” she says.

At first, she didn’t focus on a career in banking. She thought she would be a nurse, until as a 15-year-old candy striper she realized she didn’t like the sight of blood. She started in banking as a part-time teller; it led not only to a profession, but also to romance. She met her husband Carl Neubert when he came to the bank to cash his paycheck.

“Thank goodness there was no direct deposit then,” she says.

The couple now has a 14-year-old son. The family, Lisa says, loves the Connecticut River, in everything from kayaks to their 28-foot boat. When she turned 40, Lisa decided she wanted to do something new: she started jet skiing.

“But not out in the middle of the river, on the side,” she says.

For a time Lisa worked in a larger, corporate banking environment in West Hartford, but returned to this area, first working for Bank of America that used to occupy the premises at what is now Chester Town Hall.

“What a difference working in a small, community-oriented bank can make. I wish I had done it years ago,” she says.

She points out that the Essex Saving Bank, on Feb. 1, embarked on its best-known community outreach effort, the program in which customers vote on how a proportion of the bank’s profits will be divided among local non-profit organizations. The non-profit groups apply in October to be considered for the ballot.

The voting continues throughout the month of February. Lisa says the branches compete informally to see which attracts the most voters.

“It’s just a friendly competition and headquarters [in Essex] usually wins,” she says.

Lisa says at the upcoming meet of 100 Women Who Care, she plans to put in the name of Kirtland Commons, the affordable housing complex in Deep River for possible selection. She has served on its board for three years.

Kirtland Commons is now in the process on constructing 18 additional units, but Lisa notes the construction cannot satisfy all the people on the long waiting list for apartments.

“Kirtland Commons, it is an amazing organization,” she says.

And there it is again: One of her favorite words slips out one more time—amazing.

Meeting of 100 Women Who Care

100 Women Who Care meets Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Gelston House in East Haddam; 6 to 6:30 p.m. is social time followed by the meeting from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. All interested women are invited to attend.

For more information on meeting, email CTWomenCare@gmail.com.