Hurricane Relief Brings Pastor to Tears

BREA, Calif. -- Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) communicated hurricane relief plans to its affected members on the Gulf Coast and was met with overwhelming gratitude.

Hurricane Katrina, one of the largest natural disasters in American history, altered the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents along the Gulf Coast. ECCU has committed to long-term assistance.

The credit union’s relief plan is three-fold and designed for maximum impact. First, the churches ECCU serves in the region that were most impacted by the hurricane received a grant to cover the interest payments on their church mortgages from the time the hurricane hit through the end of the year. ECCU also deferred the principal payments during this same period to preserve and focus each ministry’s precious cash resources on the more vital needs at hand.

When the relief plan was communicated to the Bishop at Full Gospel Baptist Church he was brought to tears. He had a meeting that same evening with his finance board to discuss how they were going to make ends meet as they try to provide housing for displaced families; he now knows how they’ll make it happen.

“He couldn’t thank ECCU enough and was rejoicing as he was not expecting ECCU to help them to this extent,” shared the loan servicing manager for the Church & Ministry Lending department at ECCU. The same sentiment was shared by the senior pastors of the other ECCU member churches whose communities were impacted.

“We all know this is a long road for much of the hardest hit areas,” notes Scott Vandeventer, executive vice president and chief operating officer at ECCU. “Steady, deliberate, compassionate support and encouragement will win the day.”

In addition to the monetary grants, ECCU employees donated paid-time-off (PTO) hours to the relief effort, which was translated into dollars and matched by the credit union. The additional funds will also be sent to members in the affected region.

Finally, ECCU employees are empowered to physically team up with a relief effort and travel to the Gulf Coast to lend assistance. “Employees can apply for additional PTO days and receive reimbursement for other expenses upon approval by ECCU’s Missions Task Force,” says Vandeventer. “Whether we think it or feel it, our work has implications on lives that are sometimes unforeseen but nonetheless, wildly fruitful.”

Established in 1964, ECCU delivers commercial banking services to faith-based organizations around the world. As a not-for-profit financial cooperative, ECCU partners with churches, Christian schools, and other evangelical ministries for financing, construction lending, cash management, and investment services. ECCU is the parent company of Ministry Partners Investment Corporation (MPIC) offering personal investment services and Evangelical Christian Investment Management (ECIM) providing investment management services and portfolio structuring. ECCU currently employs 265 staff between its branch in Colorado Springs, Colo., and its 17-acre headquarters campus in Brea, Calif. The credit union currently has $1.8 billion in total assets under management. To learn more, visit www.eccu.org.