Meal ticket: Bank steps up its support for food banks

Banks and credit unions, as previously reported by the Business Observer, have been quick to react to the myriad ways the COVID-19 crisis has affected the communities in which they do business. Add Wayne, N.J.-based Valley Bank — which grabbed significant market share in the Tampa Bay region when it acquired Clearwater-based USAmeriBank — to the list of financial institutions that have helped people in need. 

Since April, Valley, which does business in four states, has allocated $575,000 to 14 food banks in Alabama, Florida, New Jersey and New York. “We were able to help feed 450,000 people in Tampa Bay alone through this donation,” says Bernadette Mueller, Valley Bank’s executive vice president, in an email to Coffee Talk.