In a year when hurricanes and fires devastated pockets of thecountry, credit unions and their CUSOs reached out to help theirneighbors – from running call centers to sending extra money.

Harvey triggered a state of emergency in Texas Aug. 23, and fromthe time it struck Houston Aug. 25 through hurricanes Irma andMaria, and until the last fires were under control in northernCalifornia by the end of October, at least 400 Americans had beenkilled. In their wake was billions of dollars of damage andthousands were left homeless, and in Puerto Rico half of its 3.4million U.S. citizens were still without power in lateNovember.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated 25% of theisland's residents will still be without power at the end ofJanuary.

The enormity of the year's disasters spurred credit unions andCUSOs to pitch in.

As the hurricanes struck, CUSO competitors PSCU and CO-OPFinancial Services worked together with CUNA to funnel calls frommembers in affected areas to their call centers, where they couldbe directed to help or receive financial services.

PSCU boosted its capacity to handle the calls at its centers inPhoenix, Ariz., Detroit and St. Petersburg, Fla.

PSCU donated $50,000 to the National Credit Union Foundation forstorm relief. Its employees also collected about 600 pounds ofdiapers, flashlights, canned goods, paper towels, toilet paper andother supplies. The first shipment went out Aug. 24 to Houston, andthe fifth and last load was shipped to Puerto Rico in earlyNovember.

“There were members of credit unions and employees of creditunions who lost their homes,” Erika Hill, PSCU's vicepresident of experiential marketing and events said.

CO-OP's main avenue for charity is its Miracle Match, in whichCO-OP donates up to $1 million a year as matches to credit uniondonations to the Children's Miracle Network of 170 children'shospitals across North America. Together they have raised $20million since the program began in 2008.

CO-OP tries to maintain flexibility so that it can boost itsgiving when disasters occur, and was able to donate an extra$10,000 to the Foundation for hurricane relief, Joe Franklin,CO-OP's vice president of experiential marketing and engagement,said.

“We leave room for that each year,” Franklin said. “We're ableto pivot and go where we need to. It's credit unions' mantra:People helping people. As an organization, we love having theopportunity to do that.”

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, second from left,welcomes PenFed volunteer Board Member Ron Spear, left, PenFedPresident/CEO James R. Schenck, San Patricio Branch Manager AngelMartinez Merced and PenFed Vice President-Branch Operations DerrickHarris during Schenck, Harris and Spear's visit to Puerto Rico inOctober.

Coastal Credit Union of Raleigh, N.C. ($2.9 billion in assets,239,206 members) gave $250,000 to the Foundation for relief in themainland U.S. and Puerto Rico, and $50,000 to the World Council ofCredit Unions to help credit unions in the Caribbean.

BECU of Seattle ($17.6 billion in assets, 1.1 million members)donated $50,000 to the Foundation, $10,000 to the South CarolinaRed Cross for Irma relief and $7,000 to match employee donations,Tom Berquist, BECU's SVP of marketing and cooperative affairs,said.

Berquist serves on the Northwest Credit Union Foundation board,which budgets a small amount each year for disaster recovery. It'sa practice he said might be appropriate for BECU.

“Right now we don't budget for disaster-type funding, but it'ssomething we probably should consider as we move into '18 because,unfortunately, it seems to be a little more regular,” he said.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union in Tysons, Va. ($22.8 billion inassets, 1.6 million members) gave $50,000 to the American RedCross. It has 130,000 members in Texas and more than 200,000members and three branches in Puerto Rico. It also has ATMs inJayuya, in the center of the island, about 60 miles from San Juan,and Juana Díaz, about nine miles from Ponce near the southerncoast.

PenFed began pursuing a policy of disaster preparedness in thewake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

It dispersed back-office operations and communications beyondits Washington base, adding data centers in Eugene, Ore., andOmaha, Neb.

“The entire PenFed infrastructure is built around always on,continuous operation,” PenFed President/CEO James R. Schenck said.“We plan to run remotely, even if employees can't come to work forup to 90 days. If the Alexandria area was down because of somethreat in the D.C. area, we could serve all 1.6 million of ourmembers from our Omaha and Eugene service centers.”

The move to redundant data centers came after executivesabandoned plans that depended on backup data centers, where keystaff would retreat to when the main location was inoperable orthreatened.

“In a crisis, that's not going to happen,” Schenck said. “Youhave to have that data center already built with human linksalready there in a different region because no one is leaving theirfamily in Washington to go run a disaster site somewhere else.”

A business continuity team monitors news from around the worldthat might impact PenFed operations, from threats of anthrax to theavian flu.

PenFed stores packaged foods, gloves, bottled water and othercritical emergency supplies. It manages those supplies so that thefreshness dates for water and packaged foods don't expire. And itconducts regular disaster recovery drills.

Its data centers have provisions to allow employees to shelterin place, if necessary.

As Harvey approached Texas, PenFed's business continuity teamwas put in full gear. Branch managers and regional managers were ontwo or three calls a day to ensure there would be food, diesel fuelfor generators and provisions to resupply the fuel.

Of course, the other critical need was cash. PenFed already hadcontracts in place that ensured its ATMs had priority for keepingdollars flowing to the machines.

Only one day after Hurricane Harvey made landfall near HoustonAug. 25, the National Hurricane Center began tracking the tropicalstorm off Africa that would become Irma.

Irma reached the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane Sept. 5,skirted Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and was still aCategory 4 storm when it reached Florida Sept. 10.

PSCU sent its 600 employees at its St. Petersburg offices home,except for a group of four facilities employees who hunkered downto make sure generators fired up when the power went off, and tominimize any damage. The crew and their equipment weathered thestorm well.

Three days later, the NHC began watching another tropical stormin the Atlantic. It was upgraded to Hurricane Maria Sept. 17, andswiftly grew into a Category 5. It struck Puerto Rico Sept. 20.

Unlike Harvey, which caused most of its damage through flooding,Maria's winds tore off roofs, downed power lines and causedextensive damage to other electrical infrastructure.

PenFed has two branches in Puerto Rico – one is on FortBuchanan, about five miles inland from San Juan, and its SanPatricio branch is two miles to the east of the base inGuaynabo.

PenFed sent its 49 employees home a day before the storm hit,but they were back at work two days after the storm. Its branchesreopened, but hours were limited so workers wouldn't have to drivein the dark. Commutes that usually took 20 minutes were now takingtwo hours.

ATMs had a steady supply of cash. Before the crisis, cash limitson its ATMs were lifted and the machines were stocked up. PenFedhad contracts in place with its suppliers to ensure that cashdeliveries occurred daily in such an emergency, instead of two orthree times a week.

PenFed also waived its transaction fees. Its generators hummed,allowing the machines to spit out hundreds of thousands of $10 and$20 bills each day to members and non-members alike.

“They've been able to come to our ATMs every day,” Schenk said.“It's a cash society right now. Most of the small merchants don'thave access to telecommunications. So they want $10 or $20bills.”

After the hurricane, PenFed employees communicated from themainland to Puerto Rico through voice-over-internet and cellphones. They also pulled out satellite phones that had beenprovided for such emergencies to each major office and keybranches.

“Satellite phones are key. They're expensive – $3 to $5 aminute. But in a crisis you don't care what it costs. You needcommo,” he said.

PenFed employees turned out to be luckier than most of theirneighbors and other family members. They had food, water andflushable toilets. With generators operating in the branches,employees had lights, power for phones and computers, and even airconditioning.

“Their houses had no power, no air conditioning, no flushabletoilets and no food,” he said.

What food and supplies were available had to be bought atinflated prices. PenFed's board approved a cash stipend to help itsemployees in Puerto Rico. It also shipped 49 generators to theisland for employees who needed them. Those who already hadgenerators donated them to others. It also delivered batteries,flashlights, candles, baby wipes and several weeks' supply of MealsReady to Eat (packaged military meals).

“It's one less thing they have to worry about if the grocerystore shelf is vacant that night,” he said. “They would at leasthave something that would provide a healthy meal.”

Schenck was unable to travel to Puerto Rico for three weeks. Hehas traveled to 29 countries, but was shocked by the conditionswhen he landed Oct. 17.

“I've never been to a country where all the traffic lights wereout, where most of the restaurants were closed, where at night mostof the buildings were dark,” he said. “It was absolutelydevastating. When you don't have power, you don't have runningwater and you don't have fuel to cook anything.”

Schenck encouraged leaders of other large credit unions to helpone of the other 30 credit unions in Puerto Rico. “It's not on thenews every 24 hours, but there's real need still there,” he said.“It's still a humanitarian crisis.”

PenFed's board has allowed 2% of its net income each year to begiven to charity. This year net income is expected to be $170million, which will allow PenFed to give $3.4 million in 2018 tothe PenFed Foundation and other non-profits. Over the last fewyears, PenFed has given about $10 million back to thecommunity.

Schenck said PenFed's contributions compare favorably to “someof the best for-profits,” which he said donate 1% of their netincome.

“We like 2%,” he said. “We want to make a statement as a creditunion that we give back to the national defense community, which isour field of membership and those who support them.”