When insurance companies will not cover unexpected costs or cannot distribute the money fast enough, Penn State employees now have another financial resource to turn to.

The Employee Assistance Fund, established in November, distributes money to Penn State faculty and staff experiencing extenuating personal or family hardships and in need of financial help.

The fund was created with a $2 million private donation. The gift was set up in an endowment, an invested fund, and distributed money will come from earned interest.

Since the fund was created, about 20 requests for assistance have been made and about 15 of those have resulted in assistance, said Billie Willits, associate vice president for human resources.

A wide range of situations could be considered for assistance, including fires, special medical needs and funeral expenses, Willits said. "Although people have insurance, there may be immediate needs or needs outside the insurance coverage," she added.

Karen Volmar, manager of the employee benefits division, said she has had to turn down many employees' requests for additional benefits in the past. "To have another avenue, another place to refer [these employees] to is a joy," she said.

Employees who get assistance from the fund are not expected to pay back the money they are given, Willits said.

"If they would like to contribute at some point in the future to the fund, they are certainly welcome to do that, and we let them know that. But they aren't required to pay it back," she said.

Such a fund did not exist sooner because the university was waiting for a private donation to support it -- instead of using state or tuition money, said Penn State president Graham Spanier in an e-mail message.

"We also wanted to wait until we had a sufficient balance to establish an endowment, so that it would be permanent," he said. "We needed an endowment of $2 million, which yields about $100,000 a year in expendable funds."

Volmar said she is thankful the fund was finally implemented.

"I do think it's certainly a need that's been there," she said.

Even when funds cannot be allocated, employees can still get information on where else they can go for support from the human resource department, Willits said. "If faculty and staff can get assistance from another source, we ask them to use that source first," Willits said. Sometimes people have nowhere else to turn, however, said Bill Mahon, Penn State spokesman.

"This program could be a last resort to help [an employee] get back on [his or her] feet," he said.