$10,000 Donation Supporting Local Families

An often overlooked group of individuals making vital contributions to COVID-19 relief are the small community centers and food banks whose finances, staff, and volunteers are being severely stretched. As needs are skyrocketing Clackamas is increasing support for two long-time community partners who are directly helping local families economically impacted by coronavirus.

A $2,500 donation to The Canby Center will aid people in the Canby area with food, housing, utilities, medical needs, and employment support. “Right now, food is the greatest area of need as our numbers have quadrupled since February,” says Ray Keen, Executive Director of The Canby Center. “Thank you so much for noticing the needs of our neighbors!”

We are also matching donations up to $7,500 for Clackamas Service Center in support of their Nourish Hope Campaign which has a fundraising goal of $100,000. These funds will be used to purchase food and cover other financial needs brought on by this public health crisis.

“Our friends and longtime community partners at Clackamas Federal Credit Union have been along for the ride since the beginning of this, literally – over the past eight weeks, their staff has delivered groceries to dozens of our members. But they haven’t stopped there—they want to ensure we reach our fundraising goal. We can’t thank them enough,” says Debra Mason, Executive Director at Clackamas Service Center.

Aaron Goff, our CEO, has been delivering food boxes every week since the pandemic began and sees support for the community as an essential part of the credit union’s mission. “Credit unions were developed during the Great Depression to help people with their finances when the banks were either unable or unwilling. And so we are – quite literally – built for hard times like this.”

Support for Small Businesses

We’ve also worked especially hard as of late on behalf of local, small businesses by securing SBA loan funding through the Paycheck Protection Program. More than $15 million for nearly 200 businesses has been funded and is helping keep our friends and neighbors employed. Some have begun referring to credit union staff as financial first responders. Our Business Services Manager, Katie Gilespie, worked until 2 AM before the cutoff time during the first round of PPP funding in order to get loan dollars for as many business members as possible.

Greg Philo, owner at FIRE Restoration Inc. is keeping 25 employees on the payroll in part due to help from Clackamas. “The PPP money has really helped us out. I once did the math on how many families and people are directly dependent on FIRE for their livelihood. The number is well over 400 men, women, and children. So please know that your efforts have blessed those 400 people! Thank you Clackamas and Katie for all that you did. We are truly appreciative.” In addition to these efforts for our business members, the credit union has been buying lunch every day for its employees from small, locally owned restaurants.

Support for All Members

Since the pandemic began we’ve allowed nearly 2,000 skip payments on loans for individuals and small businesses without fees. Most of our consumer fees have been waived or reduced putting approximately $90,000 per month back into members’ pockets.  We have a new pandemic relief loan that is assisting individuals and businesses, and our rates have been dramatically cut on consolidation loans.

We’ve got your back.