Outpour of Donations for Iowa Flood Victims Now Tops $325,000

DES MOINES, Iowa — Donations to aid Iowa credit union flood victims continued to pour in last week and reached $325,000, topping industry contributions collected nationally for those suffering losses during last fall's California wildfires, foundation officials here and in Washington reported.

“I want to personally thank the credit union community for its significant generosity in this time of need,” said Pat Jury, president/CEO of the Iowa Credit Union League.

The funds have been primarily collected online through the Iowa Credit Union Foundation and the CUAid program of the National Credit Union Foundation, said league officials.

Jury called the donations “an incredible outpouring of financial support” with the money used to CU members affected by last month's floods.

The first $500 emergency aid checks were distributed last week by the foundation under auspices of a disaster relief grant committee.

Meanwhile, NCUF stepped up its industry appeal on Iowa disaster relief using CUAid during last week's CUNA's America's Credit Union Conference and Expo in New York in which NCUF manned a booth urging CU donations.

In line with a featured speech by New York City Fire Chief Richard Picciotto, NCUF showed a video with what it said was “an emotional appeal for credit union employees, volunteers and members to donate through CUAid.coop to help fellow credit union employees, volunteers and members recover from current disasters and prepare for future disasters.”

NCUF noted that once Picciotto finished his speech, he set up shop in the NCUF booth signing hundreds of copies of his book, Last Man Down: A Firefighter's Story, each containing a CUAid bookmark explaining how CUs can use the online platform. It can be used, said NCUF, “not only to make institutional donations but also to begin individual fundraising campaigns by placing a link to CUAid.coop on Web sites.”

–jrubenstein@cutimes.com