Worldwide Foundation for CUs Sends First $50K for Ukraine Aid

As a first monetary disbursement, the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions will send $50,000 it collected from its Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund to a Ukrainian non-governmental organization that is providing humanitarian aid to refugees in the western region of Ukraine.

In a statement on Tuesday from the Foundation, the charitable arm of WOCCU, officials said the money will go directly to the western Ukraine city of Vinnytsia, where the Podolsk Regional Development Agency (PARD) has organized to purchase and deliver food, water, medicine, bedding and supplies to Ukrainians who’ve fled Kyiv, Mariupol, Melitopol and other cities that have been under attack by Russian military.

Executive Director of the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions Mike Reuter said, “This is the first step in our commitment to put more than half of all initial donations to our Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund toward humanitarian relief efforts. More relief dollars will also soon be sent to assist Ukrainians who have sought refuge in neighboring countries.”

According to Tuesday’s statement, the Foundation and the Cooperative Development Foundation vetted PARD “as the best conduit for immediate humanitarian relief in Ukraine.”

“The sense of support and solidarity we feel from around the world gives us strength. Despite these circumstances, consumer cooperatives are making efforts to provide the population with the necessities of life — primarily food — and delivering them to where they are most needed,” Illia Gorokhovskyi, board chair of COOP Ukraine, said.

Days after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the Foundation created the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund to help mitigate impacts to the Ukrainian credit union system.

Within the first few hours, Foundation officials said it had already raised $43,000. The Foundation has not provided an update to the amount raised since that time.

Also on Tuesday, two credit unions announced new efforts to support the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund.

Officials with the Vacaville, Calif.-based Travis Credit Union ($4.6 billion in assets, 224,700 members) said the credit union pledged to donate $15,000 to the Fund.

“I’m proud of the way credit unions are joining forces, supporting global events and seeing local communities come together to lend a helping hand. I am honored to witness how our organization continues to unite and build the community in the spirit of the credit union’s motto of People Helping People,” Barry Nelson, president/CEO of Travis Credit Union, said. “Moreover, we are committed to supporting non-profits and local businesses in our local counties as they provide relief in the war-torn region.”

The Peach State Federal Credit Union C.A.R.E.S. Foundation, the charitable arm of the $778 million Peach State FCU in Lawrenceville, Ga., announced its donation of $25,000 to the Fund.

The Foundation’s Reuter said, ““Peach State has always been a champion with us in moments of global credit union crisis to support, and we are tremendously grateful for the resources.”