WICHITA, KS (May 23, 2013) Meritrust Credit Union has been deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the tornadoes in Oklahoma. Our hearts go out to the affected families, which include some of our members, and we wanted to do our part to help with the relief efforts.
Meritrust will deliver a corporate donation in the amount of $10,000 to the Oklahoma Credit Union Foundation on Friday, May 24. “Standing back and not helping our neighbors who are suffering in Oklahoma was not an option. It’s times like these when we all need to rally together. These donations from our members, staff and board of directors are coupled with our thoughts and prayers,” said James Nastars, President/CEO, Meritrust.
The Oklahoma Credit Union Foundation has deployed its Tornado Disaster Relief Fund to assist credit union members with the impact of tornadoes that occurred Sunday and Monday in Shawnee and Moore.
Meritrust’s Wichita area branches have also opened their doors as donation sites for needed supplies including water, baby formula, diapers, wet wipes, non-perishable food, pet food, paper towels, blankets, flashlights and batteries. These donations will be delivered on Friday to the Credit Union House in Oklahoma City where the Oklahoma Credit Union Foundation staff will distribute to those impacted.
The Meritrust branches in Lawrence delivered 100 cases of water to the Lawrence Board of Realtors who will be driving two large trucks filled with supplies down to Oklahoma on Friday. The branch in Junction City teamed up with local bakery, SweetCakes Cupcake Bakery, by donating diapers, wipes and baby formula which the bakery will take down to Oklahoma on Saturday.
“The outpouring of support from our community, members and employees who want to help has been heartwarming,” said Jamie Taulbee, VP of Marketing. Meritrust is also in the process of reaching out to affected members to offer assistance and resources.
About Meritrust: Meritrust Credit Union is the leading and largest Kansas-chartered community credit union with 75,000 members and $860 million in assets. Meritrust is open to the public with 14 branches in metro-Wichita, Junction City and Lawrence, Kansas. In 2012, Meritrust was ranked third in the nation in the Callahan & Associates Return of the Member Index and was recognized by SNL Financial as one of the top 20 best performing credit unions in the nation, among credit unions with total assets of more than $500 million. For more information, visit meritrustcu.org.
About Oklahoma Credit Union Foundation: The Oklahoma Credit Union Foundation was developed to help credit unions receive training and education to serve their members better, to assist in providing financial literacy materials for credit union members and to work with other, ongoing related activities. The foundation is a premier charitable foundation dedicated to providing community development, consumer education, financial assistance, disaster relief and leadership development for the credit union community.
Those wishing to donate funds to assist credit unions in Oklahoma should may checks payable to the Oklahoma Credit Union Foundation, mark them designated for the Tornado Disaster Relief Fund and send to: Credit Union Association of Oklahoma; 631 E. Hill Street; Oklahoma City, OK 73105.