The Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund announced Wednesday it will have to suspend new furlough loans to civilian federal employees, due to a lack of available funds.

“It is always our goal to be able to assist every fed, every time,” FEEA Board President Robert Tobias said in a press release. “However, financial circumstances compel us to take a different path at this time.”

FEEA has received donations from the BlueCross/BlueShield Association, GEICO and GEBA, in addition to almost 100 individual donations. But the donations are not enough to accommodate the overwhelming volume of aid requests the agency received.

Since May 1, 2013, emergency loan volume nearly doubled each month, in part due to sequestration and furloughs. FEEA gave out a record high of more than $235,000 in loans in August. The average loan volume is less than $50,000 per month.

“This unprecedented need has created cash flow problems for the organization, which now must dramatically cut back new loans in order to remain solvent,” the release said.

FEEA will email employees who recently submitted applications for furlough loans to explain the situation. The organization says it will retain the applications and re-evaluate them should the financial situation improve.

“We remain hopeful that new donations and sponsorships will allow us to continue serving needy federal employees as sequestration continues and additional budget constraints threaten federal families,” Tobias said.

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