FARMERS BRANCH, Texas — Disaster relief funds drawn from across the U.S. and directed toward employees who suffered losses from Hurricane Ike have now topped $469,000 and of that nearly $400,000 has been distributed in 827 grants, the Texas Credit Union League reported this week.

League officials said its Texas Credit Union Foundation joined by the online CUAid program of the National Credit Union Foundation continue to receive an influx of grant applications from CU employees who experienced personal and property losses as a result of Ike's destruction three weeks ago.

“We are very grateful for the level of support from our credit union family, not for us, but for the hundreds who have experienced such devastation and upheaval in their lives,” said Jill Pharr, TCUF executive director. “We want to remind all of our generous contributors that 100% of the donations go directly to the credit union employees who need help with disaster recovery,”

Pledges from individual CUs and industry groups are updated on a daily basis, said Pharr, noting grants are doled out in the form of checks up to $500.

Separately, the league said for next week's ICU Day Oct. 16 it has launched a special drive to collect stuffed animals for the children of affected families and also is working with CUNA's Adopt-A-CU program used successfully during Katrina three years ago in which large CUs outside of the hurricane zone are teamed up with impacted, smaller CUs which often are in need of special equipment or extra personnel.