Oklahoma City-based Feed The Children charity owns Burbank home
Watchdog group says $1.2M home to lure celebrities may get Feed The Children in tax trouble
Nolan Clay
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Published: July 19, 2009
Modified: July 20, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Modified: July 20, 2009 at 5:11 pm
© Copyright 2009,
The Oklahoman A charity known for its heart-wrenching appeals for funds to feed starving children spent $1.2 million in donations on a house a few miles from Hollywood, an investigation by The Oklahoman found. Feed The Children, an Oklahoma City-based Christian relief organization, bought the new four-bedroom house in Burbank, Calif., in May 2007, records show. The daughter of the charity’s president then moved in, records show. The daughter, Larri Sue Jones, 43, told police after a December break-in that Feed The Children owns the house but "since her parents founded the organization, she was given the residence to live in,” according to a police report. The home’s existence came to light during the legal fight for control of the charity, which reports raising more than $1 billion in cash and gifts a year. The charity says it supplements more than 760,000 meals a day. Feed The Children President Larry Jones said the house was bought "to start an operation on the West Coast to reach out to celebrities.” He called it a combination residence and office. "I have no regrets,” Larry Jones said in a statement given to The Oklahoman before he left on a trip to Africa. "The relationship forged with several celebrities who embrace our mission at Feed The Children has made it possible to feed more children,” he wrote. "Celebrities open doors for us to raise in-kind and monetary gifts.” Larry Jones said his daughter "lived and worked out of the house as intended.”
‘It’s not necessary’
The daughter is a vice president and an attorney for the charity. She has been at odds with her father during the legal fight.
"It was much more economical and, frankly, a better use of funds to buy a house than try to rent or buy an office as well as a house,” Larry Jones said.
He said the home was bought "from funds we raised to help expand the reach and opportunity of our ministry.”
A critic of the charity, Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, said the charity could get in serious trouble with the Internal Revenue Service for buying the home.
"It is a ridiculous use of charitable money. ... It’s not necessary. ... It’s an outrage that this kind of thing should be going on,” Borochoff said.
The house’s value has dropped below $1 million, records show.
"Like everyone else, I am disappointed in the collapse of the real estate market in California and other places,” Larry Jones said. "We intended to sell the home at some point for a sizeable profit and then buy a small office to house our West Coast operations. With that said, we know if we stay focused on our mission, the Lord will take care of everything else.”
He said Feed The Children’s board approved the home purchase after much consideration.
"We prayerfully considered this decision and, after doing so, we were at peace with it,” he said.
Celebrities involved with the charity include actors Dean Cain, Roger Moore, Shannon Elizabeth, Lou Gossett Jr. and Amy Brenneman.
Currently in Africa on behalf of Feed The Children are talk show host Montel Williams; "General Hospital” stars Anthony Geary and Kelly Monaco; "All My Children” actress Susan Lucci; and actors Erik Estrada, Christopher Massey of Nickelodeon’s "Zoey 101,” Kyle Massey of Disney’s "Cory in the House;” and Devon Werkheiser of Nickelodeon’s "Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide,” the charity said Friday.
About the battle
The ongoing legal battle pits Larry Jones against the majority of Feed the Children’s board.
The directors upset with Larry Jones complain his "freewheeling dominance” of decisions has hurt the charity.
They were preparing to force him to take a sabbatical, but in December he had them ousted from the board before they could act. A new board then fired key executives, including Jones’ daughter, who sided with the upset directors.
A judge later undid those changes — at least temporarily. Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish reinstated ousted directors and gave Larri Sue Jones and other executives their jobs back. The next hearing in the dispute is set for Aug. 14.
Larri Sue Jones could not be reached for comment. Her attorney declined comment.
She also owns, through a trust, a residence in Oklahoma City, records show.
The median price of a house in Burbank in 2007 was about $625,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The median value of an Oklahoma house that year was about $95,000.
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If you know the Jones', and know they are good people, why are you consistently posting things in a manner to insist they are corrupt? What is your motivation for these posts? Do you feel it is your job to hold them accountable for their actions or to "expose" them to others? You stated you have read through ALL the documents. Why? Why are you so concerned with this issue? Respectfully, Vivan
http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/documents/FTCIncBoardMinutes_Aug01.pdf
From Feed The Children board minutes of August 22, 2008
http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/documents/FTCIncBoardMinutes_Aug22.pdf
From the Internal Auditors memo to the FTC Board of Directors covering issues regarding Board Meetings May 16, 2008 through October 24, 2009
http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/documents/FTC_ListofResultionsMay16-Oct24.pdf
I go by
http://www.feedthechildren.net/
Are you REALLY saying the following nationally respected non-profit over site organizations are "people not with good intentions who are trying to cause harm.."?
NewsOK is the leading newspaper in Oklahoma-home of Feed The Children. The site contains board minutes and articles regarding Feed The Children and Larry Jones.
http://newsok.com/feedthechildren
Charity Navigator is one of the leading national non-profit “watch-dog” organizations.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.comments&orgid=3691
The Chronicle of Philanthropy is the premier non-profit publication in the United States.
http://philanthropy.com/news/index.php?id=8918
http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/7331/leadership-struggle-under-way-at-big-national-charity-court-battle-shows
Charity Watch is a well respected non-profit oversight organization.
http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/feedchildren.html
Check this out
http://www.feedthechildren.net/
Regarding your Gift in Kind medicine question, below is a quote from The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) web-site. They are a nationally prominent charity watchdog service whose purpose is to help donors make informed giving decisions. For the complete article I suggest you go to the link I've provided below for additional details. This is just one example ($22,000,000 ) of the Gift in Kind charade that takes place on medical donations within Feed The Children.
http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/feedchildren.html
"This shipment, which also included 1 pallet of containers, 72 cases of bottled water, 50 bags of flour, and 1 case of discount pharmacy cards, was valued by FC at $118,932.61, according to the "Certificate of Donation" FC provided to MS. This amount seemed extremely high to Dawson, who later contacted FC for a breakout of how the different items were valued. He discovered FC was valuing the pharmacy cards at "about $23 per card," accounting for about $112,000 of the shipment's total value, according to Dawson.
In its 2007 tax form FC reports accepting donations of pharmacy cards worth over $22.4 million, but does not provide a breakout of the amount it distributed to other charities or, more importantly, explain how it determined that the cards are really worth this amount. Similar cards are readily available for free through numerous web sites and organizations. At least some of the pharmacy cards were initially donated to FC from marketing services company Vertrue Inc. According to the informational material attached to the pharmacy cards MS received, people using the cards may "save an average of 20% on prescription drugs." Dawson said he was not able to distribute any of the pharmacy cards he received from FC due to lack of interest because they cannot be used in conjunction with any other discounts, such as with a person's health insurance. "If one side were blank we could use them for scratch paper," said Dawson, referring to the cards."
http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/getcaseinformation.asp?query=true&srch=0&web=true&db=Oklahoma&icasetype=&iDATEL=&iDATEH=&iCLOSEDL=&iCLOSEDH=&number=CJ-2009-907&iLast=&iFirst=&iMiddle=&iID=&iDOBL=&iDOBH=&SearchType=0&iDCPT=&iDCType=0&iYear=&iNumber=&icitation=&submitted=true
The Chronicle of Philanthropy website at:
http://philanthropy.com/news/index.php?id=8918
Charity Navigator at:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.comments&orgid=3691
American Institute of Philanthropy:
http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/feedchildren.html