Feed the Children
Corporate brand
UnclaimedInternational charitable organization providing food, essential goods, education, nutrition, water, sanitation, and livelihood support for children and families.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Feed the Children is a United States-based charitable organization established in 1979 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its stated purpose is to help create a world in which no child goes to bed hungry. The organization operates through a combination of domestic hunger-relief, in-kind goods distribution, education support, international development, and emergency-response programs. In the United States, Feed the Children acquires, manages, and distributes donated food and other essential goods through community organizations, food banks, schools, and local agencies. Its domestic logistics network includes distribution centers in Oklahoma, Indiana, and Tennessee. The organization has also operated Teacher Stores at its distribution centers, where educators serving Title I schools can obtain school supplies, books, and healthy snacks without charge. Through the Homeless Education and Literacy Program, commonly known as H.E.L.P., Feed the Children has distributed backpacks containing school materials, food, and personal-care products to children experiencing homelessness or other forms of vulnerability. In fiscal year 2021, its Teacher Stores recorded 29,538 visits from teachers representing 482 school districts. Internationally, the organization combines food and nutrition assistance with clean-water, sanitation, hygiene, education, agricultural, livelihood, and community-resilience initiatives. Its programs have operated in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Malawi became one of its most significant international program locations through the Tiwalere initiative, which focused on orphans and vulnerable children, household food security, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, and sustainable agriculture. A later Tiwalere II project, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, targeted children under five, pregnant and lactating women, mothers of young children, and adolescent girls in ten districts. Feed the Children also responds to natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies. It has reported large-scale relief shipments after Hurricane Katrina, the September 11 attacks, the 2004 South Asian tsunami, Hurricane Matthew, and flooding in several U.S. states. Its model relies heavily on donated goods, transportation partnerships, local implementing organizations, and institutional grants. The organization has received recognition and scrutiny associated with both its charitable reach and its accounting treatment of in-kind donations. Critics have questioned the valuation and presentation of donated goods and the proportion of cash spending devoted to fundraising, while Feed the Children has argued that cash-only assessments do not adequately capture its distribution model. The organization received special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 2015 and is associated with nonprofit accountability and humanitarian networks including InterAction. In fiscal year 2021, Feed the Children reported distributing 91.5 million pounds of food and essential goods in the United States and stated that its international programs benefited approximately two million people in eight countries. It remains an active nonprofit whose identity is centered on child hunger relief, donated-goods logistics, education support, international development, and disaster assistance.
History
Feed the Children was established in 1979 by Larry Jones and developed as a child-focused charitable organization built around food aid, donated goods, and international relief. Its operating model has historically connected donors and manufacturers with community organizations capable of distributing food, clothing, household items, school supplies, and other necessities to children and families. The organization expanded beyond direct food distribution into international development and emergency response. Its international programs have addressed child nutrition, safe water, sanitation, hygiene, education, household food security, agricultural development, and livelihood resilience. Malawi became a particularly important country program. Through the Tiwalere initiative, Feed the Children worked with orphans and vulnerable children and their households, including programs involving fortified food, nutrition education, community development, and support for families affected by HIV/AIDS. Tiwalere II subsequently extended this approach to vulnerable children, mothers, adolescent girls, and communities in ten districts. Feed the Children has also maintained a substantial U.S. logistics and education-support presence. Its distribution centers in Oklahoma, Indiana, and Tennessee support shipments to food banks, local agencies, schools, and community partners. Teacher Stores provide school supplies, books, and snacks to educators in under-resourced schools. The H.E.L.P. backpack program, developed with the National Association of Educators for Homeless Children and Youth, has supplied children facing homelessness with educational and personal necessities. Disaster relief has been another recurring part of the organization’s history. Feed the Children reported sending large quantities of food and relief goods following the September 11 attacks, the 2004 South Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Matthew, and floods in multiple U.S. states. Internationally, it has combined emergency commodities with disaster-risk-reduction training and preparedness support. Governance has periodically been disrupted by disputes involving senior leadership. In 2009, following a long conflict between founder Larry Jones and the organization’s board and executives, Jones relinquished operational control and was later dismissed as president. The legal dispute was resolved in 2011. The organization disclosed an $800,000 settlement payment to Jones, together with legal fees, in a later IRS filing. Feed the Children subsequently changed chief executives several times. Kevin Hagan became president and chief executive officer in 2012. J. C. Watts Jr. held the role during 2016 but was terminated that November. Watts later sued the organization, alleging retaliation and financial mismanagement; Feed the Children denied the allegations and filed a counterclaim concerning his conduct and fundraising performance. The parties settled in 2019, and an Oklahoma Attorney General investigation reportedly ended without support for Watts’s allegations. The charity has also faced broader criticism from watchdog groups over fundraising costs, the valuation of donated goods, and the difference between cash expenditures and reported program distributions. Feed the Children has disputed approaches that exclude or discount in-kind goods, arguing that donated commodities are central to its mission. More recent public descriptions emphasize a mixed model of food and essential-goods distribution, education support, international development, and emergency response. In 2015, the organization received special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. As of fiscal year 2021, it reported a large U.S. distribution network and international programs benefiting approximately two million people in eight countries.
- 2021
Reported fiscal-year distribution
[1]Feed the Children reported distributing 91.5 million pounds of food and essential goods in the United States and serving about two million people internationally in eight countries.
- 2017
Tiwalere II grant
[1]USAID awarded more than $19.15 million to support the second phase of the Tiwalere project in Malawi.
- 2016
Chief executive transition
[1]J. C. Watts Jr. was terminated in November, and Travis Arnold was named executive director and interim chief executive officer.
- 2015
UN ECOSOC consultative status
[1]Feed the Children received special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
- 2012
Kevin Hagan becomes president and CEO
[1]Kevin Hagan, formerly associated with Good360, became president and chief executive officer.
- 2011
Jones legal dispute resolved
[1]Feed the Children and Larry Jones announced a resolution of their legal dispute, ending Jones’s association with the organization.
- 2009
Leadership transition and expanded Malawi program
[1]Larry Jones relinquished operational control during a governance dispute, while the organization substantially expanded its Malawi programming.
- 2005
Hurricane Katrina relief operation
[1]The organization reported sending more than 650 tractor-trailer loads, totaling over 20,000 tons of donated food and relief supplies, to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.
- 1979
Organization established
[1]Feed the Children was founded in the United States by Larry Jones as a child-focused hunger-relief charity.
Products and positioning
A child-focused humanitarian charity that combines large-scale donated-goods distribution with hunger relief, education assistance, international nutrition and development programs, and disaster response.
Hunger relief
Domestic food and essentials distribution
Feed the Children acquires and distributes shelf-stable food and donated essential goods through U.S. food banks, schools, community agencies, and other local partners. The model is based substantially on in-kind donations and centralized logistics. In fiscal year 2021, the organization reported distributing 91.5 million pounds of food and essentials in the United States.
Education support
Teacher Stores
Teacher Stores operate at Feed the Children distribution centers and provide educators serving Title I schools with free school supplies, books, and healthy snacks. The program is intended to help teachers meet material needs in communities with limited resources and to support children’s classroom participation.
Child and education support
H.E.L.P. backpacks
The Homeless Education and Literacy Program distributes backpacks containing school supplies, food, and personal-care items to children experiencing homelessness or other forms of severe vulnerability in U.S. public schools. Feed the Children developed the program with the National Association of Educators for Homeless Children and Youth.
International development · 2010
Tiwalere projects
Tiwalere and Tiwalere II are Malawi programs addressing nutrition, food security, education, water and sanitation, agricultural development, and household resilience. The projects focus on orphans and vulnerable children, young children, pregnant and lactating women, mothers of infants, adolescent girls, and communities affected by HIV/AIDS.
Humanitarian response
Emergency disaster relief
Feed the Children provides donated food, water, tarps, personal necessities, and other relief supplies after disasters and humanitarian emergencies. Its response work has included major U.S. hurricanes and floods as well as international crises, and it has also reported training communities in disaster-risk reduction.
Controversies
2016
Leadership and governance dispute involving J. C. Watts Jr.
After J. C. Watts Jr. was terminated as president and CEO, he alleged retaliation and financial mismanagement and said he had raised concerns with the board and reported them to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office. Feed the Children denied the allegations, characterized them as baseless, and filed a counterclaim concerning Watts’s conduct and fundraising performance. The litigation was settled in 2019, and the reported state investigation ended without support for Watts’s allegations.
2009
Dispute between founder Larry Jones and the board
A prolonged leadership dispute led Larry Jones to relinquish operational control and later resulted in his removal as president. The legal conflict was resolved in 2011; a later IRS filing disclosed an $800,000 settlement payment and additional legal fees.
2008
Charity watchdog criticism of fundraising and in-kind accounting
The American Institute of Philanthropy criticized Feed the Children’s cash spending profile and questioned the valuation of donated goods, arguing that a relatively small share of cash expenditures went directly to charitable programs. Feed the Children and other observers disputed the methodology, saying that cash-only measures fail to capture the organization’s in-kind distribution model. The controversy also included scrutiny of whether reported non-cash distributions were valued appropriately.
Brand decisions
2017
Scale the Tiwalere model through USAID fundingStrategyBackground
The first Tiwalere project had sought improvements in nutrition and support for vulnerable children in Malawi.
Action taken
USAID awarded more than $19.15 million for Tiwalere II, targeting vulnerable children, mothers, adolescent girls, and households in ten districts.
Aftermath
The grant enabled a larger, more sustainability-oriented program combining nutrition, water and sanitation, education, food security, and agricultural development.
USAID grant award. More than $19.15 million (2017)
2015
Strengthen international institutional engagementStrategyBackground
The organization pursued a broader role in international humanitarian and development work.
Action taken
Feed the Children obtained special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Aftermath
The status provided a formal platform for engagement with the UN system, although no specific subsequent initiative is established by the supplied sources.
2009
Expand integrated child-development programming in MalawiStrategyBackground
Feed the Children sought to move beyond commodity distribution by addressing nutrition, education, water, sanitation, household food security, and agricultural livelihoods for vulnerable children and families.
Action taken
The organization expanded its Malawi program and developed the Tiwalere approach for orphans and vulnerable children and their households.
Aftermath
Tiwalere later became the basis for a second phase supported by a major USAID grant.
Recent events
Reported
AdTheorent and Feed the Children report campaign results[3]
AdTheorent and Feed the Children reported results from their Q3 2020 digital advertising campaign, which raised more than $227,000 for Feed the Children. AdTheorent reported a 184% return on ad spend and a cost per donation 107% more efficient than the client benchmark.
Sources3 sources
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