The partnership between Peoples Bank and Facing Hunger Foodbank continues to grow with the Marietta, Ohio-based financial institution stepping up to serve as presenting sponsor of the 2025 Italiano Italian Festival, which serves as the food bank’s largest fundraiser. “Commitment to Communities is one of the pillars of our company,” said Peoples Bank Vice President & Charleston Regional Manager Gary Coovert. “We are constantly looking for partnerships within our footprint here in the tri-state with organizations that do good things.”
“Facing Hunger Foodbank’s footprint serves a lot of our footprint as well and our company values hunger awareness so it’s been pretty much a natural partnership that will benefit both of us,” Coovert said. “When we were presented with this opportunity to sponsor the Italian festival it was a kind of a no brainer for us because it’s a great event for a great cause.”
Peoples Bank employees can often be found taking advantage of volunteer opportunities with Facing Hunger Foodbank that includes filling food boxes at their Huntington warehouse and taking on a variety of volunteer roles at special events such as Italiano Italian Festival.
“We’ve found volunteering with Facing Hunger Foodbank has been a great team-building opportunity for our people at our organization,” said Coovert. “We show up at the food bank on several Saturdays throughout the year.”
“If you haven’t volunteered on a Saturday and think it’s easy, the amount of food you can pack in food boxes in four hours results in us being exhausted when we leave,” Coovert said. “We know we are helping to fill semis with food for distribution.”
Peoples Bank also sponsored Facing Hunger Foodbank’s 2025 Drive Out Hunger Golf Tournament.