CINCINNATI - Classic FCU here is helping members "Restock the Fridge" after the remnants of Hurricane Ike swept through this state, knocking out power to more than a million homes.
At press time, Classic FCU VP-Operations Karen Riel said some members were still without power. Riel, along with CEO Shari Duff, came up with the idea for the $800 maximum signature loan with a nine-month term to support members.
"We thought we'd offer a small loan at a flat rate for everyone," Riel said. "We do risk-based lending, but not in this instance. We wanted everyone to have the same rate across the board because the storm affected everyone the same."
The unsecured, 7% Restock the Fridge loan had 15 takers the first day. With more than 100 members without power five days after the storm and the local energy company not predicting power to be fully restored for another four days, Riel expected members will ask for the loan for at least another week.
"Our thinking is that if you have a $500 insurance deductible, that still leaves you $300 for your first round of groceries," Riel said. "We think we may do 50 or so loans."
The storm didn't damage the $29-million CFCU, which only lost power for 10 hours. But some members' homes didn't fare as well, according to Riel. To let members know the loan is available, in-branch signage showed a picture of an old Volkswagen Beetle with its back window broken out to make room for a refrigerator. The poster asked: "Are you going to restock your fridge after the storm? Let us help."
"The signage is interesting," Riel said. "It gets members to look. We've had a lot of branch traffic after the storm, which gave our member service representatives opportunities to talk about it."
CFCU also sent e-mails to its members letting them know about the loan.
"We sent messages to every member we had an e-mail address for," said Riel, who added that she was not aware of any financial institution in the area offering similar support.
"Certainly not the banks," she said. "It just thrills us that we have something at the right time that's helping members. We want to be that institution that's helping people."
For Additional Information
FEMA: To date, 317,791 households have applied for assistance.
TCUL: Ike damages are estimated from $18 billion to $24 billion.
NCUF: 61 donations totaling nearly $31,000 have been made through CUAid.coop.
TCUF: At press time over $155,000 in contributions have been received. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
