Hawaii Credit Unions Tough It Out as Kilauea Rages On

The head of the Hawaii Credit Union League said it’s still business as usual for the state’s credit unions despite weeks of lava flows, earthquakes and air-quality concerns brought on by the eruption of the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island.

No branches there have closed, employees are still coming to work and credit unions are rallying to help the community, league president Dennis Tanimoto said in an interview with CU Times.

“The credit unions themselves are doing well. They, for the most part, are not affected directly by the volcanic or the seismic activity,” he said.

Tanimoto said a Pahoa branch of CU Hawaii Federal Credit Union, which has $292 million in assets and about 28,000 members, is closest to the lava flows.

“But so far, the flow is going in a different direction,” he said.

Two other credit unions that have branches in the Puna district appear to be safe as well, Tanimoto reported.

Kilauea has also spewed tiny particles of glass into the air, making air quality an ongoing concern. Nicknamed ‘Pele’s Hair,’ the particles can irritate eyes, skin and lungs.

“They say that Madame Pele is the owner of that land, and that [the people living on it] were merely tenants,” he noted.

What happens tomorrow or the next day for area credit unions appears to depend on the volcano and the wind.

“We’re hoping and praying that everything will end up without incident,” he said.

At least three credit unions on the Big Island have started relief campaigns, according to Tanimoto.

Hilo-based CU Hawaii Federal Credit Union and Kailua Kona-based Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union, which has $522 million in assets and about 40,000 members, are collecting disaster-relief supplies and donations for residents affected by the eruption. Kamuela-based Hawaii First Federal Credit Union, which has $41 million in assets and about 8,100 members, is spearheading help with financing rebuilding, remodeling or other recovery projects, he said.