USAA donates $30 million to help military families affected by COVID-19

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) –  USAA is donating $30 million to help military families affected by COVID-19.   It’s the largest one-time philanthropic contribution in the nearly 100-year history of the company.

Twenty-million-dollars will go to military aid organizations, including Army Emergency Relief, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Air Force Aid Society, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, We Care for America Foundation and American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces.

The funding will help provide zero-interest loans and emergency grants to eligible service members and their families to assist with financial emergencies, virtual schooling costs and college educational expenses.

Another $10 million has been committed to nonprofit organizations that help veteran and spouse employment prospects, assist with childcare costs for junior enlisted military families, support virtual
delivery of education and offer emotional support for children.

“Caring for military families is our passion, whether it’s through serving our members or supporting military-related causes. USAA President and CEO Wayne Peacock said. “We hope this contribution provides vital, long-lasting support to the military community at a time when they are essential to our nation’s recovery efforts.”

Research from the COVID-19 Military Support Initiative shows that  25 percent of active military families were separated from their servicemember because of deployment or pandemic-supporting activations during the first three months of the pandemic. Thirty percent of military spouses are expected to experience unemployment, nearly three times the level of their civilian peers.

In addition to the  historic donation, USAA has returned more than $1 billion in dividends to policyholders and offered payment assistance programs for
eligible members on credit cards, consumer loans, mortgages and home equity loans and lines of credit.

USAA and The USAA Foundation, Inc. previously contributed nearly $11 million to COVID-19 crisis relief efforts.