The popular Christmas song says “there’s no place like home for the holidays,” but the wildfires left thousands of California families without a home to celebrate the Yuletide season.
California credit unions, however, recently made the season a little bit brighter for members and their families who lost their homes in the state’s most destructive wildfires this month and in October that scorched more than 450,000 acres across Sonoma, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Napa, Solano and Mendocino counties, destroyed 9,386 structures and claimed 40 lives, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
On Dec. 22, the $473 million CBC Federal Credit Union hosted Random Acts of Holiday Happiness event at its six branches across Ventura County.
The Oxnard-based credit union presented five members who lost their homes in the devastating Thomas Fire with $2,500 each. In addition, the CBC leadership team handed out $10,000 in $100 bills to members at random throughout the day.
“We had a number of members who lost their homes or were somehow impacted,” said CBC President/CEO Patrick Miller. “While we’ve offered a 0% interest, $2,500 loan for members affected, we wanted to do more.”
Miller said tears flowed and countless hugs were shared by happy members whether they received $100 or $2,500 from credit union staff members.
Those who lost their homes spoke of the support they have received from the community while they are rebuilding. Many members who received $100 explained this money would allow them to buy presents for the holidays that they previously would not have been able to do.
“We knew our members would enjoy receiving the money, but we did not expect how much joy we would get from seeing their reactions,” Miller said. “It was truly the best day and represented what credit unions are all about.”
What’s more, the $2.3 billion California Coast Credit Union in San Diego opened a fire relief fund that will provide a $1,000 donation to each eligible member whose home was destroyed by the Lilac, Liberty or Thomas wildfires.
“We recently learned that some of our members have lost homes to the Lilac wildfire and it is possible other members may be impacted by the Liberty and Thomas wildfires,” Cal Coast President/CEO Todd Lane said. “Our members are truly like family to us and we have established this fire relief fund to help them recover and start rebuilding their lives.”
In addition, Cal Coast and many other California credit unions whose members and employees were affected by the wildfires are also offering financial assistance such as delaying or reducing loan payments for existing loans, priority loan processing and credit line increases, penalty-free early withdrawals from certificate accounts, free replacement checks and ATM, credit and check cards.
