Feed the ego: Charity’s founder refuses to quit
THE OKLAHOMAN EDITORIAL
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14
Published: November 10, 2009
Another act is over in the tragic play that Feed the Children has become. The play itself, though, seems far from finished.
Feed The Children’s founder,
Larry Jones, has been fired but says he’ll fight the termination in court. The tragedy is that this man simply can’t conceive of the organization continuing without him.
Jones previously agreed to give up operational control of a charity that he ran for 30 years. He agreed to continue serving as a spokesman and fundraiser, a key role for any charity that depends on donations.
Scandal after scandal has rocked Feed The Children under Jones’ leadership, but revelation of these problems is likely not well known outside of the city in which the charity is based.
Thus, Feed The Children remains a viable conduit for money to relieve suffering and ease hunger. Jones deserves credit for all that he’s done but also criticism for his mistakes — including authorizing hidden microphones in the offices of three Feed The Children executives.
His response to being fired: "There’s going to be thousands of children go hungry this Christmas ...”
This is insufferable dialogue from a man who could have stepped down years ago instead of being forced to leave now. In effect, Jones is saying that Feed The Children is viable only if he’s alive and fully involved.
Every charity comes about because people with a vision work hard to fight the good fight. Ultimately, though, the organization is more important than its founder.
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Well I guess a broken clock is right at least twice a day.
Do you really believe those idiots on the boobtoob give a damn about people and whether or not they go to heaven? If you do, then I have some holy swamp land for sale.
Sad, he's a criminal, but as long as people are gullible and too lazy to do their homework before sending their checks in, con men will use aid efforts like this as a front for their get rich quick schemes. Tune your TV to TBN for many examples of more charlatans like LJ (only immensely more successful) hiding their criminal activity behind a tax-exempt status: Ken Copeland, James Roberson, Rod Parsley et al.
A bit of insight-the drive/ego/etc. that formed the successes of Feed The Children came from within Larry Jones. FTC is Larry and Larry is FTC. For him to "walk quietly into the night" will not happen. For Larry it would be like dusting oneself with vanishing powder-completely eliminating who one is.
Quite sad really and the word "consumed" comes to mind when I think of Larry and FTC. In one sense of the word I mean "fully engaged" and sadly in another I mean "completely destroyed".