Feed the Children in dispute with founder

September 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY

Larry Jones, a traveling preacher from Oklahoma, gave 20 cents to a hungry child on the streets in Haiti in 1979 and felt more could be done to help starving children.

Over the next 30 years, Jones and his family embraced that ideal. They created Feed the Children, one of the world’s largest charities, and it became known for Jones’ heart-wrenching televised pleas for donations as a hungry child with sad eyes sat by his side.

But now Jones has been fired from his own charity and is in a legal fight to get his job back from the $1 billion organization that’s striving to push forward amid lawsuits, a state attorney general’s investigation and watchdog groups warning people not to give it money. All of this comes as competition among nonprofits is fierce for dwindling donations in a tough economy.

Jones said he’s heartbroken to see the charity he built moving along without him, especially when so many people are in need of Feed the Children’s assistance.

“America is in a mess right now. It’s a tough time for just about everybody. This is a time we should really be reaching out to people,” he said.

The charity fired Jones in November 2009 after learning he secretly had “bugging” devices installed in executives’ offices. Its board claims he also accepted tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from charity vendors, operated the organization with little or no oversight and misspent charity funds, including giving him and his wife secret raises.

Jones, who earned about $235,000 as president, has acknowledged placing listening devices in agency offices.

But he contends he didn’t do anything wrong and that he was fired out of “personal malice and spite” by a board of directors eager to expand their power.

The allegations against Jones that emerged in court filings prompted the state attorney general’s office to launch a massive investigation into Feed the Children that could result in criminal charges, said Assistant Attorney General Julie Bays.