PSCU Donates $50,000 and 400 Pounds of Supplies to Hurricane Relief Efforts
October 12, 2017
St. Petersburg, Fla. (Oct. 11, 2017) – When PSCU witnessed the widespread devastation resulting from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, the St. Petersburg-based company knew it had to do something. In addition to donating $50,000 to the National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) for disaster relief efforts, PSCU rallied its employees to collect hundreds of pounds in supplies. Supplies were then distributed to 10 credit unions in Texas that had been directly impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
“The credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’ is never more evident than in times of crisis,” said Chuck Fagan, PSCU President and CEO. “Our goal was to put our efforts and resources to work in a way that would get aid to the people who needed it as quickly as possible.”
PSCU made an initial donation of $10,000 for the NCUF to distribute to credit unions in need throughout the affected areas. It then launched a supply drive at all four of its locations across the country — St. Petersburg, Fla.; Allen Park, Mich.; Omaha, Neb.; and Phoenix, Ariz. Simultaneously, PSCU worked with local Texas contacts to compile a list of credit unions in the area hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey. More than 400 pounds of supplies collected by PSCU employees were then shipped to the CEOs of 10 Texas-area credit unions, some of which were PSCU Member-Owner credit unions and some of which were not.
“In situations like this, we understand how important monetary support is. We also wanted to make sure our credit union family in Texas knew we were here for them, to help in whatever way we could, which is why our employees personally decided to come together and help through the supply drive,” added Fagan.
As a result of the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria, PSCU is making two additional $20,000 donations to aid the NCUF’s efforts. The company is in the process of kicking off another company-wide employee supply drive. PSCU plans to work with the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, based in Tallahassee, Fla., to funnel those supplies to credit unions in South Florida and Puerto Rico.
PSCU proactively reached out to all of its Member-Owner credit unions in the path of both hurricanes to offer assistance. It provided ongoing updates to inform Member-Owners of the organization’s preparations and business continuity operations during and after the storms. It also launched a system-wide disaster response in conjunction with the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and CO-OP Financial Services, establishing collaborative hotlines dedicated to helping credit union members with access and branch information that may have been displaced or unavailable at their institutions.
PSCU is able to quickly mobilize its resources to help credit unions and individuals impacted by natural disasters and other crises. The CUSO is currently coordinating a blood drive to benefit the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.
About PSCU
Established in 1977, PSCU (St. Petersburg, Fla.) is the nation's leading credit union service organization (CUSO). The company was recognized as CUSO of the Year in 2016 by the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations. PSCU’s products, financial services solutions and service model collectively support over 850 Owner credit unions representing more than 20 million credit, debit, prepaid, online bill payment and mobile accounts; protect over 2 billion transactions annually from fraud; and optimize credit union performance and growth. Comprehensive 24/7/365 member support is delivered through call centers located throughout the United States. For more information, visit pscu.com.