At a time when both the federal and state governments have been pouring in huge sums of money for food assistance programs, some NGOs are now misusing these funds.
The latest FBI bombshell indicates that Minneapolis is the centre of these violations where FBI raids have revealed that humanitarian groups taking millions of dollars from the governments are using that money to buy real estate, cars, and other luxurious groups instead of providing children with the food, for which they have been accumulating this money.
A non-profit organization (NGO) named Advance Youth Athletic Development initiated a massive childcare operation, aiming to provide food to needy children during the pandemic.
The group claimed that it would provide meals to 5,000 children daily, which lured the State of Minnesota in channelling $3.2 million to the group.
In January this year, the FBI made numerous raids, after getting intelligence, not only on this facility but also on other likewise groups that were aimed to protect the food needs of children.
The result was shocking, which unveiled a deeply rooted disparity of what is actually happening under the nose of these NGOs.
Feeding Our Future, a non-profit organization that was supposedly overseeing the social spending of many food-related groups, including Advance Youth Athletic Development, found out to be involved in all of this conspiracy.
Feeding Our Future received more than $65 million from the government under coronavirus funding. However, the group never oversaw other groups, as it was involved in the controversial stuff itself.
According to the government, “none of this money was used to feed children.” These shocking claims encouraged reporters to rush to the facility, where they found no signs of kitchens, let alone a child care facility.
Neighbors were asked if they had ever seen 5,000 kids being fed there. They replied, “No, No, No.”
The said case is just another event of discrepancies in COVID-related thefts for which the government has already lost big dollars.
During the recent State of the Union address, President Joe Biden decried that his government has faced theft under COVID funding schemes.
However, the inefficacy of the government and the lack of action against those involved is letting criminals play with the future of the country.
This case has once again initiated the debate about the efficacy of social groups in fighting social evils. While social justice can undeniable challenge social menace, however, these sorts of activities are the primary reasons why some people turn against social groups.
Is It the Defeat of Leftist Narrative of Big Social Spending?
The radical left has often championed the narrative that correction centres have to be minimized, sometimes even claiming that social groups be given the role of Police while dismantling the institution altogether.
However, frauds along these lines reinforce the role of governmental facilities in eradicating social menaces. While corruption within the government department is always an issue, however, the government has already established a well-mannered infrastructure that oversees these corruptions within the government.
Contrary to this, handing responsibilities to focus groups with little oversight can be a dangerous and even ineffective task. But this certainly does not mean that social justice is ineffective in its entirety, as it can still play a critical role in putting any country on a right track, if it is used sanely.
Why Are Overseeing NGOs Programs not Working Correctly?
There is a theory that can explain the behavior of oversight groups like Feeding Our Future. They get the so-called “administrative fee” of 15 percent, which lets them be silent even at a time when the groups under them are committing fraud.
If they continue catching culprits, they would eventually stop getting the money as the group under them would shut down completely.
This is where the trouble begins. These so-called watchdogs see incentives in not catching groups under them to continue getting their “administrative fee.”
Misery did not end here. State regulators continue giving money to Feeding Our Future, as the judicial constraints to stop the organization immediately were too high.
The State poured in almost $197 million after the suspicions arose for the first time against the group.
Final Thoughts
The program Feeding Our Future started working back in 2018.
However, it saw an opportunity in the crisis after the onslaught of the coronavirus, as federal funding to social programs increased massively.
Schools were closed, children felt hungry, and here came the opportunists who saw their fates getting changed by playing around the future of the country.
We talked about how billionaires exploited poor people in a pandemic to amass their wealth. However, this is something worse than that.
This was just one case that came into the limelight as investigations progressed. No one knows the actual number of NGOs getting federal money not to spend even a cent on needy people.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.