When you give money to charities, the assumption is that the money is going to good causes, and to help make a better life for the world’s neediest.

Charities rely on the charitable nature of others and for the majority of charities; their work is genuine, commendable and indispensable.

Unfortunately charity fraud, while uncommon, does exist. There are a number of charities’ names that come up when searching for deceitful, unlawful and immoral acts.

One such charity that has been plagued by controversy and slander in recent years is Feed the Children. This Oklahoma City-based hunger relief charity was founded in 1979 by Larry Jones and his wife.

For almost 30 years Larry Jones was the face of Feed the Children, making frequent emotional televised pleas for donations accompanied with a starving child sitting next to him, and Feed the Children soon became on of the world’s largest charities.











Feed the Children Rating

In 2010, the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP), which rates and evaluate charities in order to help donors make informed decisions about where to give their money, handed Feed the Children (FC) its “Most Outrageous Charity Award”.

The decision to hand the charity the most derogatory “award” in the charity spectre was influenced by a string of claims made against FC.

In 2009, Larry Jones was fired by the FC board after admitting that he authorized the bugging of three offices belonging to FC officials. Despite admitting to this offence, Jones filed a ‘wrongful termination’ suit against the FC board.

The suit was thrown back in the FC founder’s face as the charity responded to his claim with allegations that Jones gave himself and his wife unauthorised raises, took kickbacks from vendors, and had a large stash of pornographic magazines hidden in his FC office.