The national flag of Ukraine. (Source: AdobeStock)
Nearly six weeks to the day after the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) announced the formation of its Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund, officials said the Fund has surpassed the $1 million mark.
Three days after the Russian military began its invasion of Ukraine, WFCU, the charitable arm of WOCCU, opened the Fund for donations during CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference on Feb. 27.
According to a statement released by WFCU on Wednesday, more than 140 credit unions, 1,100-plus individuals and dozens of credit union leagues and credit union-affiliated organizations have donated to the Fund.
"We continue to be overwhelmed by the incredible generosity of our global credit union movement. While it is not surprising, because we know how our international community comes together in times like these, it is humbling and overwhelming to see so much support come in such a short period of time," Mike Reuter, executive director of WFCU, said.
WFCU will continue asking for donations to the Fund as the need for humanitarian aid to assist Ukrainian credit union members is expected to grow as the war rages on. While a portion of the money raised will go to humanitarian efforts, the rest of the donations will be earmarked "for the long-term recovery and rebuilding of Ukraine's credit union system," according to WFCU.
In a statement, WOCCU said it anticipates there will be a demand for "re-establishing a prudent regulatory and operating environment that will allow Ukrainian credit unions to focus on individual needs, support of small and medium enterprises and agricultural lending designed to help with the economic recovery of the Ukrainian people."
On March 15, WFCU disbursed the first $50,000 from its Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund to the Podolsk Regional Development Agency, a Ukrainian non-governmental organization that is providing humanitarian assistance to hundreds of refugees from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Kherson, Melitopol and other cities who are seeking refuge in the Vinnytsia region of western Ukraine.
In recent days, the City of Mariupol has been the focus of Russian forces, as tens of thousands of people are feared dead in what President Joe Biden described as an act of "genocide."
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
