Forty thousand facemasks donated to World Council of Credit Unions by the National Credit Union Federation of Korea (NACUFOK) are heading to more than 30 countries to protect credit union employees and members from COVID-19.

NACUFOK President/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.

“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.

World Council President/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 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. Those associations will ensure the masks get to the individual credit unions in need.

“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.”

Helping credit unions throughout the pandemic

Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March, World Council has worked to help credit unions across the globe connect to resources and best practices through its COVID-19 Resource Page and through virtual meetings and webinars.

World Council 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.

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.

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; and
• Present and future international work related to the virus, by Goosoon Kwon, Professor of Global Development Cooperation at Seoul Cyber University.

Registration for the Sept. 17 webinar is available here.