Last Fall, my sister told me about an organization that distributes food to those who need it, Angel Food Ministries (AFM). It operates similarly to that of a food pantry in that groceries are distributed once a month at neighborhood distribution centers. However, unlike a food pantry, anyone who wants to receive food from AFM must pay $30 for the food.
While both my sister and her husband have jobs, they went to AFM to help make ends meet. Amy explained that at her pick-up location (in a bedroom community outside of Washington, DC), all kinds of people got food from AFM--"not just poor people," she said. "I've seen people pull up in Lexuses to pick up their food."
Since my sister recommended it, I decided to give it a try. AFM's website declares that its monthly food distribution will feed a family of four for a week, with the $30 you pay is the equivalent of $115 in "grocery store" food.
Distribution day came and for $30, this is what I got: 1 pound package of frozen mixed vegetables, 1 box of cookies, 1 dozen eggs, 1 package pre-seasoned chicken breasts, 1 package chicken breasts, 1 package of 4 steaks, a meatloaf, 1 pound spaghetti, 1 can pasta sauce, six tortillas, 1 box mac & cheese, 1 can refried beans, 1 quart milk, and 1 pack hot dogs.
While this the quantity of food is decent, there is no way this would feed a family of four for a week. It might provide seven dinners, if one goes heavy on the meat. Particularly disturbing is the lack of key ingredients for a balanced and healthful diet: fruits (completely absent), vegetables (1 pound for the entire week), cereals/grains (none) and dairy (1 quart).
Then there was the quality of the food itself. I am not a picky eater, but the quality was so poor that most of the food was not fit to eat. The spaghetti, pasta sauce, and cookies, for example, were of poorer quality to that of store brands, similar to what you'd see at the local dollar store. And the meat was of questionable freshness and origin: the steaks and chicken packs were pumped full of nitrates and preservatives. The hot dogs were slimy and smelled "off".
Of my $30 grocery pack, I was able to use the eggs, milk, cookies, and frozen vegetables, which I estimate to be valued at about $5 or $6. The rest got thrown away. Not exactly the deal I was looking for. Email requests for a refund have been unacknowledged and unanswered by AFM.
My experience with AFM got me curious about the organization, which promotes itself as a faith-based organization started by Joe and Linda Wingo, and decided to pull their 990 income tax return.
I will say this about AFM: they are not lying when they say they have a large organization. AFM sold over $111 million dollars worth of food. After backing out their expenses to buy and distribute this food (and with the help of government grants totalling nearly $1 million and other donated "materials" of $11 million), AFM was left with a tidy profit of nearly $27 million.
But it was where this profit went that interested me. The Wingo family has, not to put too fine a point on it, done very well financially in this endeavor. While non-family staff receive market-appropriate salaries ranging from $25-80,000, the salaries of the Wingo parents and their two children add up to a staggering $2.5 million plus.
I am not saying that people who work hard should be compensated. And I'm not saying that if you work in nonprofit you should take a vow of poverty. But it seems to me to be a tad bit obscene if you make millions of dollars each year off the backs on America's working poor, delivering poor-quality products with a value significantly less than represented. There's something a bit obscene to me to be heading a "Christian charity" and making millions of dollars in the process. And where's the charity in that?
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