Troubled Georgia Food Charity Closing Doors for Good

Facing what it called insoluble financial woes, Georgia hunger charity Angel Food Ministries said Wednesday that it is shutting down, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The announcement came two weeks after the Monroe, Ga.-based operation, which since the mid-1990s has sold deeply discounted food packages to the needy through a national network of churches, suspended deliveries and laid off its staff pending a possible restructuring.

“We have not found a solution that will allow Angel Food Ministries to continue to distribute food” on a monthly basis and will therefore “cease operations,” the organization said in a statement, citing the weak economy and rising food and fuel prices as the chief causes.

Angel Food Ministries has also faced a federal investigation and challenges from board members in recent years over it spending practices and the salaries paid to founder Wesley Joseph Wingo and his family. A spokesman for the charity said the controversies, which have not led to any charges to date, tarnished the group’s image and cost it “considerable legal expense.”

“Because of the recession, groups like theirs have seen a big increase in demand for their services, and most have not seen an equal increase in income and donations,” said Sandra Miniutti of Charity Navigator. “But on the other side, I think it’s troubling because of the salaries they were paying, the number of families members who were working at the charity … all that leaves a cloud of suspicion over what happened.”