MADISON, Wis.—Forty-thousand medical facemasks are headed to credit unions in more than 30 counties following a donation to the World Council of Credit Unions by the National Credit Union Federation of Korea.
NACUFOK President and CEO Younsik Kim, who serves as chair of the WOCCU COVID-19 Response Committee, led the effort to purchase the facemasks and get them to World Council for distribution, according to the association.
“I feel a huge responsibility to do what I can to help during this global crisis. I will do my best to help the global credit union movement overcome COVID-19,” said Kim.
According to the World Council, President and CEO Brian Branch consulted with partners across the world to identify those credit unions still in “dire need of personal protective equipment.” He then worked with the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions’ staff to repackage the facemasks for shipment.
Project Storm Break, the Worldwide Foundation’s disaster relief program, aided in covering the cost of shipping the masks to more than 30 national and regional credit union associations across five continents, according to WOCCU. “Those associations will ensure the masks get to the individual credit unions in need,” the organization added.
“There is no greater challenge facing our global credit union community in 2020 than the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Branch. “One of the inspiring things about being part of the global credit union system is that when a crisis happens, credit union systems around the world instinctively step up to assist those affected.”
Additional Assistance
WOCCU noted that since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March, it has worked to help credit unions across the globe connect to resources and best practices through the COVID-19 Resource Page on woccu.org, and through virtual meetings and webinars.
World Council also launched in August its COVID-19 Response Committee to support national credit union systems and credit unions globally through the crisis and the economic repercussions that follow. The Committee will do that by identifying best practices and sharing resources all credit unions can utilize in response to the pandemic, WOCCU said.
“A bimonthly series of webinars will complement that effort—with our regional and national members assisting us in finding speakers and presenters who can provide important and interesting content for credit union professionals,” WOCCU said.
Webinar Scheduled
The first COVID-19 Response Committee webinar, scheduled for Sept. 17, will include presentations on:
- The current status of COVID-19 and a global perspective on the outlook of the pandemic, by Dongil Ahn, Visiting Professor, Yeonsei University Graduate School of Public Health, and former WHO representative in Cambodia and Lao PDR
- Present and future international work related to the virus, by Goosoon Kwon, Professor of Global Development Cooperation at Seoul Cyber University.
More info can be found by following this link.