Disaster Relief

Disaster Relief Assistance

For the credit union community, the devastation of fire destruction hits home. We are a family, and when a family member is impacted we come to their assistance. These are communities in need.

Grants are available for credit union employees and board members to assist with immediate disaster relief needs, such as out-of-pocket costs that may result from being evacuated.

Credit unions that are CUNA Mutual Group (CMG) policy holders can obtain additional insurance information and claim contact information by clicking here.

California Fires

The following are updated information on the impact of the destructive fires happening throughout California:

  • Among the credit unions affected by the Carr Fire have been Members 1st CU—which is headquartered in Redding—and Sierra Central CU, which has three branches in the area.
  • Of Members 1st CU’s 54 employees, 17 staff members have been affected by evacuations and in other ways. As of Aug. 1, all but five of the evacuated employees have returned home. All branches are now operational. (HR Manager Shawna Bell)
  • On Tuesday, July 31, Sierra Central CU CEO John Cassidy, along with a convoy of residents and businesses from Yuba-Sutter went to Redding to deliver donated clothing and supplies as well as food to serve evacuees. The food, including 900 pizzas, came from local businesses and a $15,000 donation from the credit union. A total of 18 Sierra Central employees have been evacuated.
  • Golden 1 CU’s Redding branch is open for business; however, the credit union did have several employees who had to evacuate their homes. They are safe at this time. The credit union has enacted relief efforts to assist members affected by the Carr Fire. Its Community Emergency Relief Program offers short-term emergency loans up to $5,000, as well as payment options on existing loans. It also is donating $5,000 each to the Shasta Community Regional Foundation and the Gold Country Region of the American Red Cross. (PR Manager Karen Doron)
  • The Klamathon Fire in Siskiyou County hit in early July. Siskiyou Central CU worked with the local JC Penney’s and Walmart stores, which agreed to provide additional discounts to those impacted by the fire if they presented the credit union business cards at checkout. The credit union is now a location that accepts cash donations that will them be disbursed as gift cards to help fire victims. If you wish to donate, please contact the credit union at (530) 842-1694. (VP of Operations Christine Todd)
  • The “Mendocino Complex” fire has closed the Community First CU Lakeport retail branch, and Call Center (located elsewhere in Lakeport). All staff has been evacuated but are safe. Secondary call center functions in Ukiah and Fort Bragg have been mobilized those to compensate for the closure of the Lakeport facility. (David Williams, chief marketing and HR officer)
  • The Holy Fire started on Monday, Aug. 6 in Orange County and has since spread into Riverside County (Lake Elsinore and Corona areas). Eagle Community CU had one employee temporarily evacuated because of the fire. Altura CU and SchoolsFirst FCU are tracking the impact of the fire on its staff and members.  

If you wish to help those affected by these tragic fires, we encourage you to visit the following donation pages:

In addition, those wishing to donate to those affected by the Klamathon Fire in Siskiyou County may contact Siskiyou Central CU at 530-842-1694.

CUAid.coop: The National Credit Union Foundation is accepting donations via their online disaster relief system CUAid.coop. Please select the general disaster relief option. The National Credit Union Foundation will coordinate with the California Credit Union League to distribute donations collected through CUAid to help credit union employees with critical and longer-term recovery needs. One hundred percent of donations will go to credit union disaster relief.