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Washington, D.C. – With federal employees struggling in a difficult economy and facing continuing attacks on their pocketbooks, the president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today announced a donation to the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund (FEEA), a non-profit agency that provides financial assistance to federal families in need.

“The fact of the matter is that federal employees are struggling with the same economic challenges as their fellow Americans, particularly since they are working under a two-year pay freeze,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said. “The increasing requests to FEEA clearly demonstrate the growing financial pressures federal employees are facing. We see this everyday as federal workers struggle to pay for housing, food, transportation, clothing, and all of the necessities for their families.”

Whether seeking to pay their rent or mortgage, make up the lost income of an unemployed spouse, or simply pay their water or electricity bill, more and more federal employees are turning to FEEA, which provides up to $1,000 no-interest loans to assist federal families.

“Due to the economic circumstances of the last couple years, we have certainly seen an increase in federal families in dire circumstances, and they rely on FEEA to help them through those difficult times,” said FEEA Executive Director Steve Bauer.

NTEU’s donation of more than $32,000 to FEEA will help address the increasing demand it has seen since the economic recession began in late 2007. Only nine months into 2011, FEEA has seen more than a 257 percent increase in financial assistance loans to federal employees over the number of loans the year before the recession.

So far this year, FEEA has provided loans totaling $453,969 for emergency economic assistance to federal employees compared with $170,471 in loans in 2007.

To compound matters, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires have wreaked havoc on many federal employees and their fellow Americans. Through just September, FEEA has provided 172 percent more grants for those impacted by natural disasters than it did in 2010 and 2009 combined.

“This donation is just a small step toward addressing the serious financial concerns that many federal employees cope with,” Kelley said. “While there are some inside the beltway who like to pretend that federal employees somehow live in a bubble without the same day-to-day challenges that all Americans face, this is simply not reality.”

The donation by NTEU of $32,317.67 comes from an unspent reserve of administrative funds after payouts from the $178 million settlement of the union’s special rates lawsuit, a class-action lawsuit against the federal government for some 212,000 federal employees who were paid special salary rates but who may not have received pay raises to which they were due. NTEU earmarked leftover administrative funds for the federal charity.

During the combined federal campaign (CFC) season, NTEU chapters around the country are encouraging federal workers to designate FEEA CFC #11185. Donations can also be made via credit card on FEEA’s web site at www.feea.org/Give.

NTEU is the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.