WASHINGTON — Responding to natural disaster needs emerging fromlast month's Alabama tornadoes as well as this week's Midwestfloods, the National Credit Union Foundation said Monday it hasactivated a new mechanism for speeding relief checks tovictims–whatever the calamity–by releasing early on $200,000 indonations originally designated for last fall's Californiawildfires.

In e-mails sent last week, NCUF noted that major requests forfinancial aid from credit union victims of the October 2007 SanDiego wildfires have now been fulfilled enabling the foundation toredirect the funds “to provide urgent relief to other disasterareas.”

While on-line donations earmarked to California through theNCUF's CUAid program can easily be reallocated, permission isneeded from donors to release funds drawn on individual checks,NCUF officials explained.