Farm owned by a credit union member who benefitted from the CAP Project in 2017. (Photo Credit: WOCCU) Farm owned by a credit union member who benefitted from the CAP Project in 2017. (Photo Credit: WOCCU)

The Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) unveiled a $100,000 grant program Wednesday to provide targeted aid to farmers in Ukraine as the country grips with an increasing food security crisis caused by Russia's ongoing war against the country.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, officials with WFCU said the grant money for the Ukraine Agricultural Loan Reimbursement Program comes from the money donated to the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund that opened days after the Russian military attacked Ukraine in February.

The grant from WFCU will go to nearly 600 farmers in Ukraine to reimburse 10% of their agricultural loan principal payments. According to WFCU, there are two requirements for Ukraine farmers to receive grant assistance:

  1. Issued by a credit union that partners with World Council of Credit Unions' Credit for Agricultural Producers (CAP) Project, a USAID-funded activity.
  2. Issued by a credit union that is not operating in an active conflict zone.

"In an ever-increasing global food crisis, WFCU is doing its part to support Ukraine's credit union member farmers who are at ground zero, facing both economic hardship and resource constraints," Mike Reuter, executive director of WFCU, said.

WFCU stated it "will monitor the impact of the reimbursement program and convey the outcomes for both individual farmers and the collective program to the Displacement Fund's 1,500 donors from across the international credit union community."

So far, nearly $1.7 million has been raised for the Displacement Fund since it was announced at this year's CUNA GAC in Washington, D.C., according to WFCU.

The Foundation also announced other assistance programs are in development to use money from the Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund "to address specific credit union and member pain points" that have been created by the Russian military invasion.

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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.