On hand to see Heather Gerber receive her Women of Distinction award were several Kol Ami sisterhood members, including (l to r): Eve Gold, Sandy Gerber (Heather Gerber’s mother-in-law), Heather Gerber, Ethel Marcus and Gerry Ganezer.

CHESHIRE – Heather Gerber epitomizes the expression, “If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person.”
That’s how Eve Gold, co-president of the Congregation Kol Ami Sisterhood, describes her fellow congregant. As a result, Gerber, a mother- teacher-volunteer-runner-skier, was recently presented with a “Women of Distinction” award at the annual spring conference of the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism North Atlantic Region.
A native of White Plains, N.Y., Gerber met her husband, Scott, when the two were undergraduates at Lehigh University. She would later earn an MBA in financial planning from Fordham University, and a master’s in elementary education from Quinnipiac University. She teaches 4th grade at Highland Elementary School in Cheshire.
The couple spent five years in Minneapolis, Minn., where they joined a Conservative synagogue and a chavurah, and became active volunteers in the community.
They returned east, settling in Prospect, with their two young children, Kent and Sarah, and joined Congregation Kol Ami.
“It was while working with her children at various holiday programs that Heather found her niche,” says Gold. “When they were small, her children brought Heather to Kol Ami through family programming and participation.
The Gerbers became truly devoted to Kol Ami and outside community service through their mitzvot and volunteerism, especially when no one else stepped forward.”
Last year, the Gerber children celebrated their b’nei mitzvah together.
They are both volunteer teaching assistants in the synagogue’s religious school, and participate in Kol Ami’s youth groups and community volunteer activities.
“No matter what time of day or evening, if Heather is at the synagogue, she’s doing something for the synagogue or Sisterhood,” says Gold.
“She offers to do a Sisterhood project even if no one has asked her to. She has a heart as big as outdoors for others. She is generous with her time for the entire Kol Ami community.”

When no one else would step forward, Gerber volunteered to lead the adbook project for the synagogue’s recent “Bar Mitzvah Weekend Celebration,” and spearheaded two Sisterhood gift-card campaigns, raising hundreds of dollars for the synagogue.
“Heather is a glorious presence at the synagogue, extremely appreciated for her kindness, her generosity of spirit, her valued help and vast intelligence,” says Gold. “She is the kind of person you want on your team – willing, able, intelligent, kind, businesslike,
and yet she personalizes everything she does. Many times she does things we don’t know about. She is the epitome of a lady, and a woman of valor and distinction. It is a great honor and privilege to be her friend and Sisterhood colleague. Her spirit of family,
life philosophy, and goodness knows no bounds and we are the lucky recipients of all her gifts.”