The Hawaii Bankers Association has begun its ninth annual Foodbank Drive to benefit the Hawaii Foodbank. Nearly 300 bank branches throughout the state are accepting food and monetary donations. The campaign began April 18 and runs through May 31.

All HBA members are participating in the food drive. These include American Savings Bank, Bank of Hawaii, Bank of the Orient, Central Pacific Bank, Finance Factors, First Foundation Bank, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaii National Bank, HomeStreet Bank, Ohana Pacific Bank and Territorial Savings Bank.

“We are pleased once again to collect donations to feed the hungry in our community,” said Edward Y.W. Pei, executive director of the Hawaii Bankers Association.

Last year bank customers and employees contributed 29,000 pounds of food and almost $77,000 in monetary donations. The nonperishable foods in greatest demand are meats or tuna, rice, soups, vegetables and fruit. Tellers at participating branches will accept cash donations.

The Hawaii Foodbank is the only nonprofit agency in Hawaii that collects, stores and distributes mass quantities of perishable and nonperishable food to 200 member agencies as well as food banks on Hawaii island, Maui and Kauai. A $10 donation enables the food bank to distribute enough food for 25 meals.

Bankoh volunteers teach kids to save

Nearly 200 Bank of Hawaii employee volunteers will visit more than 2,000 students at 17 elementary and middle schools across the state and 11 locations within American Samoa, Guam, Saipan and Palau on Friday to lead interactive lessons on the ABCs of saving. In Hawaii the volunteers will be at seven schools on Oahu and 10 schools on the neighbor islands.

The outreach is part of Teach Children to Save, a national campaign that organizes banker volunteers to help young people develop a savings habit early in life. Each student will receive a blue Bank of Hawaii piggy bank with a state of Hawaii quarter inside.

Sports Authority owes creditors over $1B

Sports Authority Inc. might be worth so little that it can barely cover the cost of its bankruptcy.

If potential buyers follow through on their “letters of intent,” and the company liquidates its inventory, Sports Authority will raise enough cash to cover the administrative costs of the bankruptcy, company financial adviser Steve Coulombe of FTI Consulting Inc. told a judge overseeing the case.

While Coulombe didn’t put a figure on the costs, a committee of lower-ranking creditors said in court papers that it was almost $100 million so far, with some claims yet to be quantified. The company owes creditors more than $1 billion.

The testimony came out at the same hearing in which the company’s main lawyer said Sports Authority has abandoned any hope of reorganizing and exiting bankruptcy as an independent company. Instead, the chain will sell itself off in pieces, hoping some of the stores will remain open.

The company “will not be able to reorganize under a plan, but will instead pursue a sale,” Robert Klyman said at the start of the hearing.

Next month the company will auction off almost all of its 463 stores in two batches.

Exxon loses long-held S&P top rating

NEW YORK >> Low oil prices helped to cost Exxon its pristine “AAA” credit rating from Standard & Poor’s, a label it held for over six decades.

The top “AAA” credit rating from S&P means a company’s debt is the safest possible investment. Now only two other U.S. corporations are rated triple-A by S&P: consumer and medical products company Johnson & Johnson and technology company Microsoft Corp.

S&P said Tuesday that it lowered Exxon’s rating one notch to “AA+” because of slumping oil prices and the “large dividend payments” the oil giant makes to shareholders. The credit-rating agency said Exxon is more likely to pay dividends than save money or reduce its debt. Exxon had held the “AAA” rating since at least 1949, S&P said.

On the Move

HomeStreet Bank has hired the following employees:

>> Daniele Leong was hired as a loan officer at the bank’s Pearl City Home Loan Center. She has six years of lending experience and 27 years in the real estate industry.

>> Ciria Grace Ann Patterson was hired as a loan officer at the bank’s Honolulu Home Loan Center. She has seven years of financial services industry experience.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Waikiki has named Tom Kermabon hotel manager for the Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort & Spa. He was most recently general manager of the Omni Tucson National Resort and also held positions at Westin St. Francis Hotel, Westin Miyako Kyoto Hotel and Sheraton Dongguan.