Feed the Children

Feed the Children, established in 1979 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization focused on alleviating childhood hunger. Their mission is "providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials." It provides food, essentials, education supplies and disaster relief to those in need across the United States and in 10 countries around the world. Domestically, it operates five distribution centers located in Oklahoma, Indiana, California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
In fiscal year 2017, Feed the Children distributed 79.8 million pounds of food and essentials to children and families in the U.S. Internationally, it provided nutritious food or other benefits to 1,080,000 children, and impacted more than 1,200 communities and schools in 10 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. It is accredited by GuideStar Exchange and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance.
U.S. programs.
Feed the Children's domestic programs are focused on distribution of food and essential items to families and children. Corporate partners work with Feed the Children to donate cash, food, essentials and other gift-in-kind items. Feed the Children's wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, FTC Transportation, Inc., picks up in-kind contributions from corporate warehouses and brings them to the closest Feed the Children regional distribution center. The food and supplies are then delivered to pre-approved, independent partner agencies that, in turn, distribute the supplies through various other organizations located in communities across the U.S. In fiscal year 2017, Feed the Children served more 850,000 meals through their Summer Food & Education program with the help of public funds and private partners to children in more than 20 states across the U.S.
Feed the Children also focuses on education. Through each of its distribution centers, they operate a Teacher Store, which offers free school supplies and books to educators in area Title I schools. Through its partnership with National Association of Educators for Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), Feed the Children has distributed more than a million Homeless Education and Literacy Program (H.E.L.P.) backpacks filled with school supplies, food and personal care items to children who are at-risk or homeless who are enrolled in U.S. public schools.
International programs.
Through their work, they hope that: 1) All children will be properly nourished and developed by age 5 and continue to understand the importance of nutrition throughout their life; 2) All children will have access to safe and clean water, proper sanitation, and adequate hygiene resources that promote healthy immune systems and enable them to develop through adolescence and into adulthood; 3) All children will be able to enroll, feel safe, and complete a high-quality education that promotes lifelong learning; and 4) Families will be self-reliant, financially stable, and able to support and strengthen their communities.
Examples of international projects funded by Feed the Children include medical mission trips and the "Casa del Niño" (House of the child) in Barrio Ingles, La Ceiba, Honduras. In 2009 FTC has greatly expanded its program in Malawi. Using in-kind donations from Nuskin, Inc, 50,000 orphans and pre-school children, mostly in rural areas, receive a fortified porridge, VitaMeal. Feed the Children has received an $8.5 million grant from the USAID as part of a 5-year, $20 million project for orphans and vulnerable children. This will improve food security and access to nutrition, education, clean water, sanitation and sustainable agricultural development for 40,000 households and over 70,000 children impacted by HIV/AIDS in Malawi. The Tiwalere OVC Project, in full operation in 2011, will make Malawi the largest international program.
In 2015, Feed the Children was granted special consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). In 2017, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded Feed the Children the largest grant in its history – more than $19.15 million – to fund the Tiwalere II project. Following the success of Tiwalere I, a similar but smaller project that improved nutrition for orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi from 2010 to 2015, the Tiwalere II project will strive to achieve significant and sustainable improvements in the nutritional status of children under the age of five, pregnant and lactating women, mothers of children under the age of two and adolescent girls in ten districts within central and northern Malawi.
Disaster relief.
When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, Feed the Children self-reported sending over 650 semi tractor-trailers totaling more than 20,000 tons of donated food and relief supplies. Between the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the South Asian tsunami in December 2004, Feed the Children self-reported sending more than 15,500 tons of food and relief supplies to the affected regions.
Feed the Children responded to the flooding in Louisiana, Virginia and West Virginia, the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew, as well as other disasters as it distributed $3.4 million worth of food and essentials to disaster-affected regions in the United States. Internationally, in fiscal year 2017, Feed the Children trained more than 32,000 individuals in disaster risk-reduction and provided supplies like food, water and tarps to 57,000 individuals.
Finances.
According to Feed the Children's IRS Form 990 for fiscal year 2019, 91% of its budget went to program services (childcare, food, medical, disaster relief, education and community development), 4% went to fundraising and 5% went to management and supporting services.
Forbes ranks Feed the Children as the 43rd largest charity in the United States in its annual America's Top Charities report.
Reception.
Charity Navigator gives Feed the Children 3/4 stars with an "Accountability and Transparency" rating of 97, and an "Overall" rating of 89.18. GuideStar, a Charity Navigator partner, awards Feed the Children its Platinum Seal of Transparency for "voluntarily and publicly sharing information about how they measure their progress and results."
Recently, Charity Navigator issued a Moderate Concern Advisory for Feed the Children, as the organization is the subject of an ongoing inquiry by the Oklahoma AG.
Feed the Children is accredited by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance.
The organization is a member of InterAction, an alliance of international NGOs and partners in the United States.
Feed the Children was first evaluated for a financial efficiency rating by the AIP, (now known as CharityWatch) in 1995. From 1995 until at least 2009, Feed the Children continuously received an F (failure) rating. The most recent (issued April 2018) ranking from CharityWatch, the rating house that's historically been most critical of FTC, now provides Feed the Children with a C+ rating.
Controversy.
Feed the Children's financial and spending practices have long attracted significant scrutiny and at one point, prompted the AIP to label FTC the “Most Outrageous Charity in America.” Based on the rating criteria used by the American Institute of Philanthropy; in 2008, Feed the Children spent only 21–23% of its cash budget of $125 million on charitable programs, compared to 63-65% on fundraising, including 54% on TV, radio and direct mail/postage. This was a slight improvement from 2005 when 18% FTC's cash budget was spent on charitable programs and 60% on TV, radio and mail advertisements. Feed the Children contests the reliability of AIP's rating method for not taking, "gifts in kind", which are included by most other established charity rating organizations, into account. The AIP has speculated Feed the Children's charitable footprint is exaggerated due to the value their non-cash distributions being inflated; an allegation that has at times been echoed by Feed the Children's own auditors.
For most of 2016, former U.S. congressman J.C. Watts Jr. served as the Feed the Children's president and CEO. The board of directors announced his appointment on January 21, 2016. On November 15, it was announced that Watts was no longer serving in either role.
In April 2017, Watts filed a wrongful termination suit against Feed the Children and its board of directors in Oklahoma state court. According to Watts, upon his ascension he soon uncovered rampant financial mismanagement at the charity. Though he repeatedly brought these issues to the attention of the board of directors, including his concern some of the irregularities constituted criminal misconduct, no action was taken, forcing him to report FTC to the Oklahoma AG's Office-which then launched a formal investigation. Watts said his firing, only weeks later was in retaliation.
Feed the Children called Watts‘ allegations “baseless and without merit.” In June, FTC filed a counter-suit against Watts, seeking damages for loses they claimed were negligently incurred by him during his tenure as president and CEO. According to the counter-suit, "several discussions pertaining to (Watts') insubordinate, dishonest and improper conduct, his failings as President and Chief Executive Officer and the termination of (Watts') employment, took place prior to" the special board meeting when the decision to fire Watts was made.
In July 2019, as part of a settlement, Feed the Children dropped their counter-suit and agreed to pay Watts $1 million to resolve his case against them.
Power Struggle with Larry Jones.
After a lengthy leadership dispute between founder Larry Jones and the board and top executives of the charity, Jones agreed to give up operational control in August 2009. On November 6, 2009, the board voted to fire Jones from his position as president. On January 28, 2011, Jones and Feed The Children announced a resolution of the legal dispute. Jones is no longer associated in any way with Feed the Children. On June 4, 2012, Kevin Hagan, formerly with Good360, became the president and CEO of Feed the Children.
In 2013, Feed The Children disclosed that it paid $800,000 to Jones, after he was fired in 2009. The severance payment, made during fiscal year 2012, was disclosed in a 204-page return filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Feed the Children made the payment to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Jones. The charity paid an additional amount in legal fees to Jones' attorney, Mark Hammons.
Current Leadership.
On November 15, 2016, the board of directors announced Travis Arnold would be serving as executive director and interim CEO. In early 2017, Arnold was made Feed the Children's new official president and CEO, positions he continues to hold as of December 2020.
In August 2020, it was announced that Bregeita Jefferson would become Feed the Children's next Chief International Operations, Finance and Compliance Officer (CIOFCO).