Students from the MetroWest Jewish Day School, Shillman House residents and Jessica Hamermesh, Director of the Generations Together Program.

“Thank you for arranging for the children to come here. They make us so happy.” This sentiment, expressed by Edna Rabinowich, was shared by many of her neighbors at Shillman House following a recent intergenerational program.

Shillman House, a community, is collaborating with the MetroWest Jewish Day School (MWJDS) to offer Making Connections by Looking at our Past. The project recently held its kick-off session.  Rachel Stewart, Administrative Director of the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation, which is providing financial support, attended the meeting and presented a check.

“The foundation supports numerous programs, projects and activities that are designed to provide a solid foundation for today’s youth, our future professional and civic leaders,” said Robert Lamprey, Foundation Chairman.

Shillman House residents and students from MWJDS will meet regularly as part of the school’s unit on immigration. The students will hone their interviewing skills by preparing questions at each session to engage the seniors in interesting discussions to compare the past with the current. The topic for the first gathering was food and favorite recipes.

The students and seniors will continue to meet throughout the school year and hold a special gathering at the culmination of the program.

Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation, recently awarded $8,665.86 to the Friends of Callahan to equip the entire Computer Learning Center with the newest technology.

The $8,665.86 award was used to purchase ten brand new Dell Inspiron computers with 23” monitors and two Gateway computers with touch screen monitors.  Now the Center can continue its educational classes in Introduction to PC, Microsoft Word, Digital Photography; and introduce a new class in January entitled Memory and Health which will utilizing the touch screen monitors. 

 “We are very appreciative of the donation for the new computers. It has allowed us to completely modernize our computer lab. Our seniors can now continue to learn and improve their computer skills with the very latest technologies.  We are again thankful that the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation has always recognized our seniors as a vibrant part of our community” said Bob Merusi, Executive Director, Town of Framingham, Park & Recreation.

The Friends of Callahan grant was included in the total of $71,650 awarded in support of the community during the Charitable Foundation’s most recent round of funding. Since it was established in 1998, the Foundation has donated over $2 million to charitable causes as part of its commitment to improve and enhance quality of life for local residents.

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Photo Caption:

From left: Framingham Co-operative Bank President, CEO and Foundation Trustee Mark Haranas; Robert Merusi, Executive Director of the Town of Framingham Parks & Recreation; and Foundation Chairman Robert Lamprey.

The Framingham Police Department has received $10,000 to assist in the establishment of a canine unit within the Department thanks to a grant from the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation.

“We appreciate Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation’s generous support and I believe that the addition of the K-9 Force will vastly improve our ability to quickly locate lost or missing people, assist in the apprehension of fleeing felons, combat illegal narcotics and establish better community relations through outreach activities,” said Chief Steven Carl.

The canine will provide the Patrol and Investigation Divisions of the Framingham Police with enhanced specialized support faster than currently available.

The Framingham Police Department grant was included in the total of $71,650 awarded in support of the community during the Charitable Foundation’s most recent round of funding. Since it was established in 1998, the Foundation has donated over $2 million to charitable causes as part of its commitment to improve and enhance quality of life for local residents.

Photo caption:

From left: Trustees of the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation Susan Acton and Paul Galvani; Police Chief Steven Carl; Foundation Chairman Robert Lamprey; Framingham Co-operative Bank President and CEO and Foundation Trustee Mark Haranas; and Foundation Administrative Director Rachel Stewart.

The Massachusetts Bankers Association has received calls from member banks in Greater Boston area indicating that elderly customers have received calls from individuals trying to update/verify bank account information. The caller reportedly has a very thick accent, and in some cases has the elders name and address. In some cases the caller also states their Medicare benefits will be discontinued if they did not provide their account and bank routing numbers. Some of the victims claim the calls are coming from Social Security, while others claim to be from Medicare. FCB does not call to verify personal account information from customers and neither does Medicare or Social Security.

Special thanks to Matt Lidestri, manager of Security and Internet Products for COCC, a Connecticut-based firm specializing in outsourced information technology and support, for providing this valuable information for our customers.

Not everyone will be looking for sweaters and smartphones this holiday season. In fact, once the tinsel gets tossed and the decorations are packed away, data security will resume its title role, center stage.

The following is a list of gifts that keep on giving and cost little or nothing. Happy holidays!

Back to the Internet

Have you ever noticed when you are shopping online that advertisements seem to focus on just the items you want? That’s the latest technique for tying your online behavior to online advertising – it allows advertisers to place their messages on pages you view just when you’re about to buy a rival’s product.

The latest version of the Firefox browser enables users to stop the madness by opting out of online behavior tracking. Other Firefox features include the ability to protect your browsing history, remove any trace of visiting a particular web site, and to know if content on any given page is legitimate. Hackers often inject evil scripts onto innocent-looking web pages – a technique known as cross-site scripting attacks. This feature gives you a chance to walk away.

Blocking Traffic

Last year, we recommended Comodo, a free firewall to protect customers from malware at home. Let me repeat to anyone who doubts whether they need a firewall in their house – you do. The average time to infect an unprotected computer on the Internet remains under five minutes.

This year, we are recommending another free tool to protect yourself and your family from malware and adult content (gambling, pornography, etc.), on the Internet. K9 by Blue Coat uses the same advanced web filtering technology deployed by companies and governments worldwide — all with a user-friendly interface that allows you to control Internet use in your home.

New Windows

In the past, security literature cited a common culprit – Microsoft – for security weaknesses. Not anymore. The new Windows 7 operating system is fast, easy to use, and has some excellent features that help consumers stay safe. Windows 7 is the product of Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL), which has contributed in developing higher quality code. In addition, it ships with better protection via User Account Control (UAC), which was first introduced in Windows Vista. Any time a program wants to make a major change to your computer, the UAC alerts you and asks for permission. This is a significant defense against hackers and malicious software, since they often change settings and install software to do their dirty work.

For those who prefer a different experience with their PC, there is Ubuntu, a very common user-friendly Linux operating system. The price is right – free – and it provides exceptional device support, an intuitive interface, and strong security. Since most viruses target Windows-based systems at this point in time, using Ubuntu can reduce the likelihood of successful malware infections. If you have family or friends who are prone to tripping across malware, I’d highly recommend giving Ubuntu a closer look.

The New You

Even if you install tons of security solutions, you will still need a sure-fire method for reducing your risk of hacker attacks. Here it is: create at least one ‘regular’ user account on your computer, and use that account exclusively for day-to-day use.

Why is a ‘regular’ user account so effective? Malware often needs to make changes to the system in order to be effective – from hooking into the OS (operating system) to enable keylogging to installing services for persistence between reboots. If you sign in as a regular user with no administrative rights, malware cannot be installed automatically or by simply clicking an “ok” button. That’s good news for the good guys.

Reduce the Junk

Finally, I leave you with a highly effective strategy to stem the tide of junk email: Create a separate junk email account and use it to sign up for promotions, Groupons, and charities. Review this account just once a week, and delete most everything in it, confident that real email from friends, family, and companies that you actually do business with won’t be clouded by spam. Or, forward email from your “junk account” to your real webmail account and create rules to direct these messages to a different folder. This provides easy access to these messages without cluttering your inbox.

Please note: Framingham Co-operative Bank provides these links as a service to our web site visitors. We are not responsible for the content, views, or privacy policies of these sites. We take no responsibility for any products or services offered, nor do we endorse or sponsor the information contained.

Golden Tones chorus, a 70-voice group of retired people who love to sing and dance, will perform at the Framingham Co-operative Bank, 828 Concord Street, Framingham, as a token of their appreciation for sponsorship from the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation.  The concert, a selection of sing-and dance-along holiday songs, will take place on Thursday, December 15 at 12:30 p.m.  

“We gave a concert at the Bank last June as part of their customer thank-you week,” said Deborah Marion, Golden Tones Director.  “It was to thank them for supporting us with a generous grant, but unbeknownst to us, bank employees videotaped our performance and put it up on YouTube.  Now it’s on our website, and we’re thrilled to return to the Bank for another shot at going viral!”

Now in its twenty-third season, the Golden Tones chorus provides enriching entertainment for senior citizen facilities, schools, faith communities and public events.  Its members are men and women of retirement age who sing and dance to lift spirits, have fun, and promote health and social engagement to benefit underserved audiences. 

The chorus began in 1988 as a sing-along activity in the Wayland Council on Aging.  Since then, it has evolved into a vibrant performing chorus of men and women from all over the MetroWest area that performs over 50 concerts per season in the region.  The program has been recognized as a Best Practice in the Creativity and Aging study sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, and featured on CNN’s ‘Accent Health” Series, showing the significant and measurable health benefits that seniors derive from live music.  Visit www.goldentones.org for more information.

At this time we are not currently seeking new employees. But, we would encourage you to submit your resume for our records.

For more information, please call (508) 820-4000. Send your resume and your Application for Employment to:
Human Resources Department
Framingham Co-operative Bank
828 Concord Street
Framingham, MA 01701

Fax to: 508-532-8379 or email to: hr@framinghambank.com.

We want our Bank to be diverse, where employees and customers feel comfortable.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Robert P. Lamprey, chairman of the board of the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation recently announced a $5,000 award to the John Andrew Mazie Memorial Foundation.  Now in its 14^th year at Framingham High School the Mazie Mentoring Program helps aspiring students reach their full potential in school and beyond.

The $5,000 award will be used to purchase laptop computers for the students. Having the use of personal computers will enable the students to complete their schoolwork more efficiently, without having to rely on the availability of school or local library resources.

During the three years they are in the program, from sophomores through graduation, students are required to set and achieve a series of increasingly challenging goals around community service, their academic achievements, personal fitness, college research, and career choices.

“Our Board sincerely appreciates Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation’s past and current support, which has played a significant role in our ability to rescue at-risk youth in the community,” said Mr. Lowell Mazie, Executive Director.

 The John Andrew Mazie Memorial Foundation grant was included in the total of $71,650 awarded in support of the community during the Charitable Foundation’s most recent round of funding. Since it was established in 1998, the Foundation has donated over $2 million to charitable causes as part of its commitment to improve and enhance quality of life for local residents.

Photo caption:

Lowell I. Mazie, executive director of the John Andrew Mazie Memorial Program and the current students that received their laptop computers at the Goal Achievement Award Event.

Robert “Bob” Lamprey, chariman of the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation,  began his career in community banking over fifty years ago.  Much of his early time was spent at Everett Co-operative Bank where he developed his core beliefs on how local banks could support the families and small businesses within their market.  True, sound business practices and efficient internal procedures were critical to the bank’s long term success.  But just as important was being a caring and pro-active partner with the residents in the towns the bank served.  After all, Bob knew the health and vibrancy of his bank was directly related to the health and well being of the people in the community.

In 1977, Bob came to Framingham Co-operative Bank as the Executive Vice President and was promoted to President in 1988.  He brought to Framingham the same business expertise, but also the same commitment and caring that had marked the early part of his career.  During Bob’s tenure, the local economy has been by rocked by two serious recessions including the current one.  But even through these troubling times, Framingham Co-operative has continued to grow while expanding services and keeping its fees fair & low.

While Bob has remained active in a variety of positions within the United Way of Tri-County over the years, it is the Framingham Co-operative Bank Charitable Foundation which has been his pride and joy.  Established in 1998, through Bob’s efforts and those of the Bank’s board, it has become the centerpiece of his efforts to provide support for the many worthy non-profits in the MetroWest area.

As chairman of the Foundation, Bob has spearheaded efforts to support those most vulnerable members of our community.  Bob’s focus has been on our residents most critical needs including:  food, medical and legal assistance for those in need; child welfare programs in partnership with our schools and faith based organizations; and public safety initiatives through our police and fire departments.   Primarily through his efforts, the Foundation recently surpassed $2,000,000 in total grants awarded to these worthwhile endeavors.  While his success as a community banker is well documented, Bob has commented that, “being able to support the neediest among us, has given me the greatest personal satisfaction.”

Please join us in congratulating Bonnie J. Kinsman. She has successfully completed the Master of Science in Business Ethics and Compliance degree from the New England College of Business. Bonnie started with the Bank as a Commercial Lending Assistant in 2006 and was promoted to Assistant Loan Supervisor in 2008.  We are all immensely proud of her accomplishments in attaining her degree and wish her all the best!