October 28, 2011
Search underway for alternatives after Angel Food closing
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
The sudden ending of Angel Food Ministries caught some Holy Redeemer families by surprise, and left the host site coordinator searching for alternatives. Angel Food Ministries provided discount groceries for individuals and families, with no income limits or other restrictions.
Rose Sartore was the director of the host site at Holy Redeemer Church in Evansville. She said 45 to 50 individuals typically participated each month.
Angel Food Ministries each month created a variety of different sized boxes of food for about half of what it would cost to purchase at a grocery store, according to a Wikipedia article.
Parishioners at Holy Redeemer and at host sites at hundreds of congregations across the country would order the boxes they wanted and pay in advance for them.
Fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, canned goods and other shelf-stable items were among the choices.
Once a month, on a Saturday, “the truck would arrive [at a central location in Evansville] and volunteers would go to meet the truck and bring the orders back to Holy Redeemer,” Sartore said. “I started taking orders right away for next month’s delivery,” she said.
Sartore directed the Holy Redeemer site for about three years.
“We had our regular customers that ordered every month, and some that were hit and miss,” Sartore said. “Every month the menus were different, and what was available might not be what some people would use.”
As for customer satisfaction, “we had a lot of regulars and they were very appreciative,” she said. “It was definitely a positive, good outreach for Holy Redeemer.”
The supplies were “not name brand items, but quality was always a high priority. If any of the fresh produce were spoiled, it was replaced,” Sartore said. Angel Food Ministries “always made it right, providing the same or better value.”
News reports in several previous years have questioned the high salaries of the family members operating the ministry, but the reason given for closure in September was the current economy.
The Associated Press on Sept. 21 reported that Angel Food Ministries went out of business after 17 years, citing the economic downturn affecting many of the organization’s customers as its downfall.
“Angel Food has not been immune from the same economic and market conditions that led to the loss of other food ministries,” according to a statement from Angel Food Ministries as quoted by the AP.
The statement went on to say, “We realize the pressure that this places on our host sites, community food banks and customers. We at Angel Food Ministries are truly heartbroken to have to cease operations but it has not compromised our faith in God or our commitment to helping those in need.”
Angel Food Ministries is a non-denominational non-profit organization with headquarters in Monroe, Ga.
Angel Food Ministries was established by Linda and Wesley Joseph Wingo in 1994. In recent years, the organization’s problems included an ongoing federal investigation, a past lawsuit filed by members of its own board and heightened scru-tiny about the pay given to family members, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
According to the Atlanta newspaper, the organization’s most recent filing with the Internal Revenue Service showed a total of $1.06 million in salaries paid to three members of the ministry’s founding family in 2009.