Among the many stories of extra-effort by individuals to help others was that of a Texas CU CEO who used his own plane to provide funds to a Louisiana credit union.
With hundreds of thousands of refugees from Hurricane Katrina flooding into the Baton Rouge area and deliveries from the Federal Reserve halted, Louisiana Dow FCU was quick to run out of cash last week. So Edward Speed, president of Texas Dow FCU, in Lake Jackson, Texas, collected $600,000 in cash from his credit union's branches and loaded it onto his personal airplane, then made the two-hour flight to Baton Rouge for an emergency delivery of the much-needed cash. When he arrived at the airport he was greeted by Jeff Hendrickson, CEO of Dow Louisiana FCU, and security. The special delivery enabled Louisiana Dow FCU to remain open through the long holiday weekend and provide members and area residents with the means to buy food, clothing, medicine, gas and shelter.
