Addis Foundation: A casualty of the Feeding Our Future fallout

A lot of unrelated nonprofits were caught in the undertow of the Feeding Our Future scandal.

One such example is the Addis Foundation of St. Paul, which never did business with Feeding Our Future, yet continues to suffer in the aftermath of the scandal. Neither its name, nor any of its locations appear in any FBI search warrants or any indictments in the case.

According to records on file with state and Federal authorities, the Addis Foundation was registered in Minnesota and received its tax-exempt status in December 2020.

The Addis Foundation operated its own network of free-food distribution sites, mostly in St. Paul. It appears to have operated a single site (its headquarters) under the unrelated food network Partners in Nutrition, d/b/a Partners in Quality Care, also of St. Paul.

The Foundation’s food distribution locations are listed on its website. All are local churches with two exceptions: its headquarters building on White Bear Avenue and the large office building at 1821 University that we have discussed previously.

The two Federal programs–the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)–are overseen in Minnesota by the state Department of Education (MDE).

As sponsors, Addis Foundation received more than $2.1 million from MDE in 2021 through the SFSP.

After the FBI raids in January 2022, MDE shut down operations of Feeding Our Future. It also shut down the operations of the separate Partners in Nutrition network. Partners is currently suing MDE in both state and Federal courts for reinstatement to the programs.

Through the Partners’ lawsuit, the Addis Foundation is seeking reinstatement for three locations under CACFP.

For its former lone location under CACFP under Partners in Nutrition, Addis has four unpaid invoices dating from January through April of this year. Based on its Twitter and Facebook accounts, it appears that Addis was unable to continue its food program after that point. A Facebook post, dated April 27, reads,

For the moment we have paused all services until further notice thank you for understanding.

Not willing to wait for the adjudication of Partners’ lawsuit, in late August, Addis filed its own against MDE, alleging amongst other items that MDE practiced “guilt by association.” That action is still pending in District Court.