CU staffer helps get money for water to El Salvador

CORVALLIS, Ore. (9/9/08)--A staffer at OSU FCU, Corvallis, Ore., who told a member that "my job is to serve, not turn away," didn't know it at the time, but his service has resulted in good drinking water for 100 residents in El Salvador.

Andrew Krasney, an employee at the university branch, received kudos from Rob Hess, treasurer of Engineers Without Borders at Oregon State University (OSU), who wrote the credit union a letter of thanks, according to the Credit Union Association of Oregon (Outlook September).

Hess had been a member of OSU FCU for about four years and had never needed to use services other than basic savings and checking accounts, he wrote.

"However, recently I have had to perform a series of international wire transfers summing to several thousand dollars," Hess said. One transfer "had to be performed within a short time frame, but only after a pending direct deposit showed up in my account, which, unfortunately, would happen when I was out of town.

Also, they were unable to find wire transfer information for the receiving bank. Hess said he feared the circumstances would prevent the transfer

But Krasney told him, "My job is to serve, not to turn away." The staffer "backed up those words by finding a way to help me get the money where it needed to be when needed," Hess said.

Krasney didn't know the money wired was for an international aid project being undertaken by the OSU chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Hess was sending money to El Salvador to buy materials to build a system for fresh, clean, reliable drinking water to more than 100 residents of Las Mercedes and El Naranjito, two rural communities.

"Without Andrew's help, this system could not have been implemented, and the residents of Las Mercedes and El Naranjito would remain without a reliable source of good drinking water," the letter said.

Hess applauded Krasney "for his hard work and his willing, can-do attitude. Not only am I and the rest of EWB-OSU grateful to him for his help, but so are the 100 or so rural Salvadoran coffee farmers whose daily lives will be improved, in part due to Andrew's good work."

courtesy of cuna.org