What are you thankful for?

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by Jorge Santiago

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. But 2014 has flown by and, sure enough, turkey will be served on dinner tables across the country within a few short weeks.

This is the time of year when we reflect upon our blessings and show our appreciation to our loved ones and to those who really strive to change the world for the better.

Here at The Milford Bank, we welcome the opportunity to say thank you to the members of our communities who strive to help those less fortunate in the Milford and Stratford locales. And that’s why we established The Milford Bank Foundation in 2003: to support charitable, health, public safety and education initiatives in our area.

To show our appreciation for these organizations, we’re pleased to announce that the foundation is currently accepting grant proposals from 501(c)(3) charity groups that serve our Milford and Stratford communities. The grants will range from $250 to $2,500 for the year ending Dec. 31, 2014. Please keep in mind that submissions must be made by Nov. 15. (Click here for more information and to obtain the Grant Application.)

While it’s important to support our neighbors year round, we particularly enjoy celebrating the spirit of giving at this time of year when the focus is on gratitude for each other and the world in which we live. That’s why we’re excited to be able to offer these grants through our foundation.

If you’re interested in applying for one of the grants, please click here to download the application. From our family here at The Milford Bank to you and yours, a very Happy Thanksgiving!

A Friendly Reminder From The Milford Bank: Beware of the ‘Grandparent Scam’

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By Bob Russo

The scam usually goes something like this: You receive a phone call from someone claiming to be your grandchild. Or perhaps the caller is claiming to be someone contacting you on your grandchild’s behalf— like a police officer, for example, who says he/she has just arrested your grandchild and is requesting bail money for his or her release.

No matter what story line the culprits employ in this “grandparent scam,” the call always ends up with the scammer asking for money.

Countless times, this scenario—in which a criminal takes advantage of a typical grandparent’s concern for a grandchild—is being perpetrated against senior citizens, and many of them are becoming victims. They choose to immediately wire the money, usually through Western Union, to anywhere in the world that the caller dictates. In other words, they’ll do whatever the caller tells them to do to help their grandchild.

Unfortunately, once money is wired internationally, it’s very hard—if not impossible—to get it back.

Earlier this year, two nurses in Ridgefield, Connecticut, prevented an elderly couple from wiring $2,800 to a scammer—a caller that pretended to be their grandson. In this iteration of the scam, the grandson was injured while on vacation in Colombia and needed money.

The caller also instructed the grandparents to not contact any other family members. Should a similar situation arise—with someone on the phone saying they’re your grandchild and asking for money—do call a member of your family immediately to corroborate what you’ve been told.

With a call like this from out of the blue, there’s a good chance something is amiss.

We understand that our customers are so much more than their savings and checking accounts with us. We hope to be your trusted advisor. So, from time to time, expect that we’ll provide updates on these kinds of scams to make sure you’re aware of them and to keep you from becoming a victim.

Meet Teller Lisa Richetelli (if You Haven’t Already)

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By Jorge Santiago

“I go out of my way to take care of who’s in front of me. I love all of our customers.”

So says teller Lisa Richetelli, a familiar face at our Broad Street branch for the last 14 years. While many of our customers certainly know Lisa, some might not know that she’s married to another well-known local: Her husband James served as Milford’s ninth mayor from 2001 to 2011. Both spouses revel in their Milford citizenry and were happy to raise their children here among friends, while enjoying the town’s many amenities, like the beautiful seashore.

Lisa finds job satisfaction at The Milford Bank even in everyday simple efforts to assist customers. For example, she described a recent experience helping an elderly woman learn how to operate the bank’s ATM machine. “By the time she left, she was in great spirits,” Lisa recounted. For her, it’s important that every customer who comes through the door has a good banking experience.

After Lisa graduated high school, she worked at The Milford Bank for about a decade before leaving to raise her three children. She returned to her “home away from home” fourteen years ago in a part-time capacity, saying that she couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. “It’s a hometown bank, so people will talk about what’s going on,” she said. “Most of us live in Milford or are from around here, so the bank has a really community-oriented feel.”

Lisa said she looks forward to seeing whoever walks up to her counter. Even though there are customers she knows better than others, she tries to treat everyone the same. “We know most of our customers,” Lisa explained, “and we make it a point to get to know the customers we don’t know.”

The Milford Bank strives to hire tellers who will be courteous, friendly and helpful at all times, and Lisa perfectly embodies those characteristics.

Please stop by our Broad Street branch and say hello!

You Love Local Businesses. We’ll Help You Love Them More!

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By Lynn Viesti Berube

The whole community benefits when you spend your money locally. We at The Milford Bank understand that perfectly, which is why we’re pleased to work with our business customers to make special offers available from them to the rest of our customers.

We started this program several years ago with coupons accessible on our ATMs. While we can no longer offer them at our ATMs (the software which enabled us to add coupon screens is no longer available) our customers can still find these valuable offers on our website, in our eNewsletter and in the customer newsletters mailed with their monthly paper statements.

Every quarter, working in conjunction with our business customers, we offer different coupons supporting local businesses—anything from restaurants to boutiques to flower shops and everything in between. We’re always looking for ways to help our customers save money. Our local coupon program is just one extension of that philosophy. Plus, it helps our business customers too.

Milford and Stratford are wonderful communities full of strong businesses run by great people. That’s why we’re pleased to call the two towns our home. In order to keep our communities in as good a shape as they’re in, it’s important that we support local businesses whenever possible. These coupons will help bring prices down, so please consider taking advantage of them.

Who doesn’t like to save money? We know we do. By making use of our local coupon program, it is our hope that our customers will help support local businesses without feeling like they are breaking the bank.

School Is Back in Session, So It’s Time to Get Involved With Cent$ible Kid$

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by Jorge Santiago

It’s never too early to teach your kids the importance of saving their money. But, in fact, many children get to high school lacking the financial acumen necessary to navigate the next chapters in their lives.

Understanding this, The Milford Bank launched the Cent$ible Kid$ program in 2008. We envisioned that the program would help young kids realize the importance of saving their money. To help engrain that message, we visit students in Milford and Stratford elementary schools and show them  how to open a savings account—it’s like a piggy bank, but secure and more measurable.

“We think it’s important to teach kids to regularly save their money for a worthwhile purpose, like something special they want, rather than just asking [their parents] for it,” explains Bob Russo, Vice President and Manager of our Broad Street office. “It’s about choices: They have to decide how to spend their money. We believe it promotes good behavior.”

Whether the students deposit 10 cents or $20 a week doesn’t matter to us. Rather, we’re more interested in encouraging the thrifty behavior. And that’s why we give each child a $1 bonus after making five deposits. After making eight deposits, we give them a $1 gold coin, too.

Right now, there are over 500 kids in the program, according to Russo.

In addition to encouraging the youth to open savings accounts, we also educate them on a variety of bank-related topics including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Mint, interest rates and more.

Since school is back in session, now is the perfect time to teach your kids about the importance of saving their money. We believe that Cent$ible Kid$ is a program that will help do that.

 

School Is Almost Back in Session, So It’s Time to Get Involved With Cent$ible Kid$

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By Jorge Santiago

It’s never too early to teach your kids the importance of saving their money. But, in fact, many children get to high school lacking the financial knowledge necessary to navigate the next chapters in their lives.

Understanding this, The Milford Bank launched its Cent$ible Kid$ program in 2008. We envisioned that the program would help young kids realize the importance of saving their money. To help engrain that message, we visit students in Milford and Stratford elementary schools and show themhow to open a savings account—it’s like a piggy bank, but secure and more measurable.

“We think it’s important to teach kids to regularly save their money for a worthwhile purpose, like something special they want, rather than just asking [their parents] for it,” explains Bob Russo, a vice president and manager who works out of our Broad Street office. “It’s about choices: They have to decide how to spend their money. We believe it promotes good behavior.”

Whether the students deposit 10 cents or $20 a week doesn’t matter to us. Rather, we’re more interested in encouraging the thrifty behavior. And that’s why we give each child a $1 bonus after making five deposits. After making eight deposits, we give them a $1 gold coin, too.

Right now, there are over 500 kids in the program, according to Russo.

In addition to encouraging the youth to open savings accounts, we also educate them on a variety of bank-related topics including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Mint, interest rates and more.
Since school is almost back in session, now is the perfect time to teach your kids about the importance of saving their money. We believe that Cent$ible Kid$ is a program that will help do that.