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Since the powerful Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico Sept. 18, hundreds of thousands of citizens remain without power and water as recovery efforts continue.
On Monday, the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) announced its commitment to send $250,000 from its CUAid program to help credit union employees and volunteers based on the island who have been devastated by the storm.
According to a statement from NCUF, the grant money will be handed to Inclusiv to manage individual donations to those who need it. As of Monday, Inclusiv employees on the ground in Puerto Rico have been working around the clock to identify where the money needs to go.
"We've identified about 100 credit union employees and volunteers whose homes, vehicles, personal property has been damaged and in some cases, irreparably," NCUF Executive Director Gigi Hyland said.
In addition, several credit unions, or cooperativas, have reported substantial flood damage.
Pablo DeFilippi, EVP of Inclusiv said, "We know dozens of credit union employees have been impacted, and several credit unions received damages as a consequence of flooding. This CUAid grant will help those individuals, and the credit unions they work for, get back up and running. That's an important first step in supporting the rest of the island through what will be a long, challenging recovery."
Historically, the Foundation would solicit donations prior to distributing dollars. According to the NCUF, following a series of catastrophic events in 2017, CUAid was restructured to be able to provide immediate financial support.
"CUAid is the living embodiment of our people helping people philosophy," André Parraway, the Foundation's chief financial and operations officer, said. "When disaster strikes, the credit union movement responds."
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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.
