BROOKLYN, N.Y.–NCUA Chairman Todd M. Harper delivered remarks at the Polish & Slavic FCU Ukraine Event. Harper expressed support for Polish and Slavic credit union efforts to assist Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Also in attendance were Ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski, permanent representative of Poland to the U.N.; Oleksii Holubulov, consul general of Ukraine in New York, and Adrian Kubicki, consul general of Poland in New York.
“As someone whose ancestors come from Eastern Europe and who grew up in a Polish and Slovak ethnic enclave near Chicago, it is a privilege to join you today,” said Harper.
“My Polish-American grandfather, Edward Wierzbicki, who helped to raise me, and my greatgrandmother, Amalia Gescheschke, who fled at the age of eight in the dark of night with her aunt and uncle from Russian oppression against her and other Volga Germans, would both be very proud to know that I was joining you today to discuss such an important issue at such an important time.
“But, first, I want to congratulate the Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union for its many successes,” Harper continued. “Since its establishment in 1976, the Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union has grown to become the largest ethnic credit union in the United States. What is more, it continues to be apillar of the Polish-American community in the places where it operates, supporting manyorganizations, schools, parishes, and foundations, and awarding more than $6 million in college scholarships to 5,100 students.”
Harper said credit unions have been based on the principle of people helping people, and that includes those escaping from other forms of oppression.
“I was deeply impressed when I heard the Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union, in partnership with the John Paul II Foundation, has raised more than $330,000 to provide direct assistance to Ukrainian refugees in Poland,” said Harper. “The foundation’s namesake, his holiness Saint JohnPaul II, said that “War is a defeat for humanity’.” He was right. So, it is up to humanity to rise up together and meet this moment head on.”