The financial-services provider USAA has donated $15 million to a Coast Guard relief organization with plans to make interest-free loans to Coast Guard personnel who are not getting paid during the partial government shutdown.
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance will begin making loans to personnel starting today. Service members with dependents will be eligible for loans of up to $1,000 and those without children will be able to borrow as much as $750.
“USAA’s mission is to be there for our members when they need us most,” CEO Stuart Parker said in a statement released by the company. “This initiative, together with our efforts directly supporting members, will help thousands of Coast Guard families.”
The company’s benevolence was appreciated by Admiral Karl L. Schultz, the Coast Guard’s commandant.
“I am grateful for the outpouring of support across the country, particularly in local communities, for our men and women,” Schultz wrote Tuesday in aletter posted to Twitter. “It is a direct reflection of the American public’s sentiment towards their United States Coast Guard; they recognize the sacrifice that you and your family make in service to your country. It is also not lost on me that our dedicated civilians are already adjusting to a missed paycheck — we are confronting this challenge together.”
Today you will not be receiving your regularly scheduled paycheck. To the best of my knowledge, this marks the first time in our Nation’s history that servicemembers in a U.S. Armed Force have not been paid during a lapse in appropriations. Read more: https://t.co/5tLzGhK2nt pic.twitter.com/J2o00zWm0k
— Admiral Karl Schultz (@ComdtUSCG) January 15, 2019
USAA serves about 12.8 million members, including military personnel, veterans and their families.
Service members in other branches of the military — the Navy, Air Force, Marines and Army — are getting paid during the shutdown.
