MAY 28, 2002

People's Bank Vice President Appointed Trustee Of New Haven Rotary Trust Fund

BRIDGEPORT, CONN.
Thomas Beirne III, vice president and trust officer in the New Haven Trust office of People's Bank, has been named trustee of the New Haven Rotary's Charitable and Scholarship Trust Fund. Beirne, who is a Milford resident and has been with People's for more than four years, is an active participant in the New Haven Rotary and two years ago was elected to serve on its board of directors.

The New Haven Rotary's Fund is one of the largest Rotary scholarship trusts in the region and awards an average of $9,500 in total scholarships annually to seniors in high schools throughout New Haven. Scholarships vary in size from $500 to $1,000 based on academic achievement, community involvement and financial need. For more information about the group's scholarships, please visit the New Haven Rotary's web site at www.newhaven-rotary.org.

Rotary is a global professional organization dedicated to providing humanitarian service, encouraging high ethical standards in all vocations and helping build goodwill and peace in the world. There are over 1,200,000 Rotarians worldwide belong to over 30,000 Clubs in some 160 countries.

People's (peoples.com) is a diversified financial services company providing commercial, consumer, insurance and investment services. Founded in 1842, it is the largest state-chartered bank in Connecticut with managed assets of $13 billion, 150 branches and 230 ATMs. People's is a leader in consumer and commercial banking, residential lending, insurance sales, supermarket banking and is the nation's 15th-largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards. People's subsidiaries offer brokerage services, asset management, equipment leasing and financing and insurance services.