Charity food empire comes to Hazel Dell
Controversial nonprofit will sell its boxes through church
Monday, March 8, 2010
Map
A controversial, multimillion-dollar food charity that bypasses supermarkets and brings inexpensive food boxes to families all over the nation is coming to Hazel Dell.
Angel Food Ministries, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian company based in Georgia, will sell food boxes through the St. John Lutheran Church on Northeast Highway 99. According to press reports, Angel Food Ministries sells approximately 600,000 boxes in 42 states every month.
Although the effort is aimed at stretching people’s food dollars during tough times, there are no income limits or other restrictions. It’s open to anybody who can prepurchase a food box and then pick it up on a monthly distribution day. The first one’s set for March 27.
A standard food box through the church is $33 — that’s a base $30 plus a $3 distribution fee.
And what do you get for that? Enough to feed a family of four for a week, according to Kris Walther, the Felida mom who set up the local connection between her church and Angel Food Ministries.
According to the Angel Food Web site, the March “signature” box includes two pounds of chopped beefsteaks (flavored with mustard), one pound of bacon-wrapped turkey breast, one pound of pork chops, two pounds of macaroni-and-beef entree, two and one-half pounds of chicken breasts, one pound of lean ground beef, one 12-inch supreme pizza, one pound of frozen peas and carrots, one pound of frozen corn, a two-pound bag of fresh apples, two pounds of broccoli-and-cheese soup, 24 ounces of steak fries, a skillet dinner, one pound of rice, a dozen eggs and a dessert.
Other boxes at varying prices are aimed at seniors, after-school snackers, seafood lovers, meat lovers, fruit and vegetable lovers and people with food allergies. There are family “kits” that include meat and side dishes for multiple meals. All are in the $20 to $40 range. Food stamps are accepted.
The easiest way to check details such as amounts and prices and to place an order is by visiting http://www.angelfoodministries.com. You’ll be prompted to choose the St. John church as your distribution site before starting your order. If you don’t have a computer, you’re welcome to drop by the church and use theirs. Call 360-573-1461. The church is at 11005 N.E. Highway 99. The last day to order for the March 27 distribution is March 18.
Hunger all around
“It’s for anyone who wants to stretch their grocery dollar,” Walther said. “Typically, I think it’s going to be families who may have only one income or are struggling.”
She said she sees evidence of hunger “all around us, every day. In the congregation and outside in the community.”
Walther’s own family has felt the pinch of the recession, she said, with her construction-worker husband enduring pay cuts to keep working while she stays home with a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old.
“I was looking to cut costs for my own family,” she said. “I’d heard about their program and I found there was nothing in the Pacific Northwest for them.”
Now, she said, Angel Food Ministries will make monthly deliveries to the Hazel Dell church. Frozen and shelf-stable goods will be shipped from a warehouse in Texas and fresh food and produce will come from Duck Delivery Produce in Portland, she said.
“They buy in large quantities and get a pretty good discount,” said Walther. “They don’t have any overhead since they work with community organizations and churches.”
Legal troubles
The Angel Food Ministries business model — buying huge quantities of food at volume discounts and selling that food via thousands of community institutions like churches, and volunteers like Walther — appears unique, according to online news reports.
And the company’s explosive growth in recent years — in 2008 it enjoyed sales of $140 million — hasn’t been without scandal.
Last year, company headquarters in Monroe, Ga., was raided by the FBI, and two former board members sued the company, accusing Angel Food founder Joe Wingo and his family of paying themselves millions and diverting charity money to their own church. Angel Food settled in July 2009 with an agreement to cut salaries, cancel corporate credit cards, transfer use of a corporate jet to a watchdog committee and undergo a forensic audit.
But Angel Food Ministries is now headed back to court, accused of skipping the audit and other settlement commitments, according to a recent article in the Walton (Ga.) Tribune. A hearing is scheduled for March 18 in Walton County Superior Court. Meanwhile, a summer 2009 “Christianity Today” article said faith-based nonprofit watchdogs were questioning the company’s business practices.
Angel Food boosters say those legal troubles can’t compare to all the good the company does — the discounted food it sells to people who need it and the charitable donations it makes.
Walther said she was vaguely aware of controversy surrounding Angel Food Ministries.
“I saw something on a blog, that there was an investigation — something about salaries,” she said. “I haven’t heard anything recently. I don’t have an opinion on it. I just want to help my community.”
Scott Hewitt: 360-735-4525 or scott.hewitt@columbian.com.
Rate this
You must be logged in to rate this.
Current Rating : Nobody has rated this article yet.
