Feed The Children, Inc. - Controversies in the 1990s

Controversies in the 1990s

Despite its established record of good works, Feed The Children was not without controversy. In 1991 a 60-year-old organization called Save The Children sued over its similar name and logo, citing copyright infringement, and a year later an article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy charged that FTC was exaggerating its efficiency and the amount of funds it spent on charitable giving. Specifically, it was asserted that the donated books that comprised almost 40 percent of the $86.3 million in commodity giving had been valued at their wholesale price, rather than a "charity value" of approximately one-fifth that amount. FTC also was accused of falsely claiming that the radio and television programs it produced, at a cost of nearly $10 million per year, were "educational," when they were actually devoted almost entirely to fundraising. Jones responded to the accusations by saying, "I'm not trying to pad my books. I'm trying to help people."

Continuing to follow its mission in spite of such distractions, FTC's relief efforts of the 1990s included sending food to Somalia to help children orphaned in the war there, and giving assistance to citizens of Jones's own home town following the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. FTC provided thermal underwear and steel-toed boots for rescue workers, meals for police, and funeral expenses for some of the families of the victims. Due to Jones's visibility on CNN and network television programs, donations to the organization shot upward, and it took in $6.7 million in extra goods and cash in the aftermath of the bombing.

FTC's international relief efforts continued in the latter half of the 1990s, and included providing aid in 1999 in Kosovo to victims of the war there, and in Turkey to victims of an earthquake. New controversy erupted that same year when the chief of FTC's 274,000-square-foot Nashville warehouse and six of his staff were videotaped by a local television station taking boxes of donated goods home with them. The items included clothing, shoes, blankets, food, and videos. Jones subsequently fired the entire staff of the facility and installed surveillance cameras and other safeguards. The next year FTC also discovered that its chief financial officer had forged signatures and supplied inaccurate financial documents, and he too was dismissed, with the organization's 1998 and 1999 years subsequently re-audited. At this time, FTC was taking in more than $200 million in donations.