When you help others, you help yourself. And the greatest rewards are received from the most selfless acts. These types of acts happen all the time, everyday, and everywhere. You can see them take place, you know. All you have to do is look. I’ll make the search easier for you. Check out your YMCA for selfless activity. The people that work and volunteer within (and often outside) its walls are what make the YMCA what it is. There is one person who shines brightly at the La Porte County Family YMCA among the many wonderful people there. Her name is Cindy Berchem. She is the Executive Director and CEO of the La Porte County Family YMCA and she is this week’s La Porte County Life in the Spotlight.
Berchem has lived in La Porte all of her life. She made her way through the La Porte School system and found that she enjoyed business classes along the way. So it was a good fit when she pursued accounting as a major in college. She graduated from Notre Dame University with a bachelor’s in accounting and moved on to get a job as an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the largest public accounting firm in the world.
“I had audit teams that worked for me and I was responsible for client taxes and accounting work,” Berchem explained.
The job was demanding, and Bercham had a family so she put family first and left the firm to work at her husband’s company as a part-time accounting business manager. Berchem now had more time to dedicate toward what mattered the most to her: family.
Later on, as fate would have it, a former client contacted Berchem and asked if she would be willing to volunteer with accounting for the local YMCA. She said yes, and from there she went from a volunteer to a part time finance director to Associate Executive Director to where she is today, the Executive Director and CEO of the La Porte County Family YMCA.
“I love it. The Y is a great place to meet a lot of different people. You get to make a difference in the lives of lots of them so it’s more than a paycheck. You can go from helping a childcare center and to helping with someone’s fitness goal and a lot more. This is not an opportunity that many will get and we get to do it on a daily basis here,” Berchem said.
The La Porte YMCA is the oldest Y in the state as it has been in existence since 1903. The original has building has been around since 1911 and though there have been many additions, the original is still being utilized. There are three branches all together with the La Porte location, one in Long Beach and the Child Care and Learning Center. With around 6,700 members and 180 employees that Berchem oversees, she is pleased with the numbers.
“In the last six months we’ve had record membership sales,” Berchem said. “People belong to the Y and it’s about connecting. When you work with kids and families you find that everyone has their own story and when you can be part of that story it’s easy to have great things to talk about when you have great things happening at the Y. I’m very fortunate. I’ve never thought I’d work at a YMCA and it’s a great feeling to be a part of that.”
Outside of work, Berchem is involved with the Kiwanis, the Service League of La Porte, she is a former board member of the La Porte Hospital Physicians Network, and she was very involved with her kids’ school activities when they were younger.
“La Porte is the only place that I’ve ever lived in and known,” Berchem said. “My husband came here in high school from Chicago and when we started our family we realized that this was a great place to reside and raise a family. We made friends here. It feels like home and people know you and you know them. It’s a great place to be.”
In her free time she loves to read, travel and spend as much time with her family as she can.
Future goals for Berchem include seeing changes and enhancements to the indoor and outdoor facilities of the YMCA and to watch her employees grow and embrace the mission of the Y. She believes that it is a strong mission and that it makes a positive difference in people’s lives.
So does this lovely lady have any words of wisdom to bestow upon the readers?
“I always tell my kids that if you decide to commit to something that you need to give 100%. You’re going to get that personal satisfaction and you will get rewards in many different ways. Hard work, dedication, and balance are what you need. As a mom I need balance. I was told I can’t have a family and have a job but I did it. It took a lot of work but I did it.,” Berchem said.
She did it. And she’s still doing it. So let’s give a nod to this La Porte County Life in the Spotlight.