CHARITY IN TURMOIL: Founder fired from the company he started decades ago. The founder of Feed the Children international charity has been fired from the organization he started 30 years ago. The board of directors voted last Friday to remove Jones as president “effective immediately,” according to The Oklahoman. The directors which records show paid Jones $230,323 a year didn’t give a reason for the decision, but the firing came after Jones admitted to law enforcement that he authorized wire taps in three executives’ offices last April. “There’s going to be thousands of children going hungry this Christmas because of what they did,” Jones, 69, told The Oklahoman, adding that “This is the best two months of the year to raise money, and we’re down like everybody else is down. There’s more hungry children than ever, and they fire me. I was in such shock.” Jones said he will sue to try to get his job back. Jones has been the face of the Oklahoma City-based Christian relief organization. It reports collecting more than $1 billion in donations a year. He and his wife, Frances, were the main fundraisers, making repeated, often heart-wrenching televised pleas for money to help starving children in Africa and elsewhere. The charity has become widely known through the commercials and from celebrities’ support. His wife, Frances, was not fired. Leadership turmoil Jones has been in a legal dispute with most of the charity’s board and top executives over who is really in charge there. A lawsuit about the power struggle was settled in August when Jones agreed to give up operational control.
CHARITY IN TURMOIL: Founder fired from the company he started decades ago. The founder of Feed the Children international charity has been fired from the organization he started 30 years ago. The board of directors voted last Friday to remove Jones as president “effective immediately,” according to The Oklahoman. The directors which records show paid Jones $230,323 a year didn’t give a reason for the decision, but the firing came after Jones admitted to law enforcement that he authorized wire taps in three executives’ offices last April. “There’s going to be thousands of children going hungry this Christmas because of what they did,” Jones, 69, told The Oklahoman, adding that “This is the best two months of the year to raise money, and we’re down like everybody else is down. There’s more hungry children than ever, and they fire me. I was in such shock.” Jones said he will sue to try to get his job back. Jones has been the face of the Oklahoma City-based Christian relief organization. It reports collecting more than $1 billion in donations a year. He and his wife, Frances, were the main fundraisers, making repeated, often heart-wrenching televised pleas for money to help starving children in Africa and elsewhere. The charity has become widely known through the commercials and from celebrities’ support. His wife, Frances, was not fired. Leadership turmoil Jones has been in a legal dispute with most of the charity’s board and top executives over who is really in charge there. A lawsuit about the power struggle was settled in August when Jones agreed to give up operational control.