ST. LOUIS 鈥 When the pandemic prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to loosen the rules over its child nutrition programs, two churches quickly became the largest program sponsors in Missouri.
Financial data obtained from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services shows that Life360 Community Services, affiliated with Life360 Church in Springfield, and New Hope Fellowship, a church in High Ridge, grew to become the two largest participants in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Both are affiliated with the Springfield-based Assemblies of God, one of the fastest-growing Christian denominations.
Life360 was one of the larger program participants prior to the pandemic, but the grab-and-go options that allowed sponsors to distribute a week鈥檚 worth of food at a time in massive drive-thru events led to giant reimbursement claims for the organization. The and reimburse sponsoring organizations as much as $4.50 per meal claimed by sponsors to cover the cost of food, staff and distribution.
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In an interview, the Rev. Ted Cederblom, who heads Life360 Church, said the church鈥檚 nonprofit focuses on small, rural Missouri towns. It began partnering with school districts to distribute food to students in classrooms about four years ago, beginning with Laclede County School District.
鈥淭here was a need and people kept asking,鈥 Cederblom said. 鈥淲e have people who have a heart for these small rural towns.鈥
By 2019, it was billing about $1.5 million annually through the program, the fifth largest program sponsor in the state. The largest sponsor at the time was St. 亚洲无码-based United 4 Children, which helps day cares around Missouri participate in the program and obtain reimbursement for healthy meals.
But when grab-and-go started in 2020, Life360 quickly became the largest organization by revenue in the state, using its rural distribution network as food distribution sites.
It claimed $14.4 million in 2021 and $15.5 million in 2020 under the Child and Adult Care food program and its sister program, the Summer Food Service Program. While grab-and-go was in place from 2020 through mid-2022, Life360 claimed $38.25 million in food reimbursement under the two programs.
Yes, Life360 made money when the program ramped up during grab-and-go, Cederblom said. According to its federal audit, at the end of 2020, the organization was sitting on $3.2 million in cash.
It spent that on program expenses by the end of the next year, Cederblom said, primarily food, where costs increased some 50%, and salaries, which rose by $2 million, according to its federal audit. Its 2021 audit found no issues. It corrected the only finding in its 2020 audit by drafting written cash management procedures.
Unlike some other organizations, the church鈥檚 nonprofit arm is still participating in the program now that the state once again requires kids to eat meals on-site. Its school district partnerships protects against program abuse, Cederblom said, because Life360 and the state can use school attendance records to ensure its reimbursement claims sync up.
鈥淚t was our decision, we鈥檙e gonna work with public schools,鈥 Cederblom said. 鈥淚t protects us, it provides a blessing to that school and for those kids.鈥
鈥楢 lot more need鈥
New Hope Fellowship church, which has campuses in High Ridge and Hillsboro, started in the food program in 2017 under Life360 as its sponsor. It became its own sponsor a year later.
鈥淲e had a heart to help the churches where they were at,鈥 Linda Braswell, director of New Hope鈥檚 food program, said in an interview. 鈥淲e wanted the churches to be the face of the program and not New Hope Fellowship.鈥
New Hope did the food prep for partner churches that distributed the meals and handled the administrative burdens of the program, documenting spending and applying for food reimbursement from the state.
It partnered with all denominations and nonprofits, but its relationships within the fast-growing Assemblies of God network allowed it to build a sizeable network of participating sites and become a full-time job, rather than volunteer work, for Braswell.
The church was feeding about 1,500 hot meals a week to kids when COVID-19 led to the stop of congregate dining. Then, New Hope was connected with the Ferguson-Florissant School District, which was looking for a sponsor to prepare and deliver meals. It quickly grew from serving 1,500 kids a week to 30,000, trucking food to its partner sites in Springfield, Kansas City, Cape Girardeau and Sedalia.
In all, New Hope claimed about $22.5 million in reimbursement under the USDA鈥檚 two child nutrition programs during the time grab-and-go was allowed from 2020 through mid-2022 鈥 the third-most among Missouri sponsors in that time period.
鈥淐OVID exposed there was a lot more need out there,鈥 Braswell said.
New Hope is still serving about 25,000 kids a month and partnering with school districts including the Grandview School District in Dittmer and North St. Francois County School District.
鈥淥nce the waivers went, we realized we can still do this,鈥 she said.
The church was initially cited for not properly documenting some payroll expenses in a 2020 federal audit, but it fixed those problems in its 2021 audit. Its audit noted that it needed more accounting staff and that the auditing firm had to prepare financial statements, but the 2021 review found no issues with the church鈥檚 handling of the federal money that funded the program.
Braswell said she heard some stories about other sponsors, but she said she and New Hope have tried to follow the regulations properly as they grew.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easier to tell the truth than to explain it in an audit,鈥 Braswell said. 鈥淚 have no doubt that some did make a profit.鈥
10 largest Missouri payees under USDA child nutrition programs
The USDA paid dozens of Missouri nonprofits, school districts and churches millions of dollars from its two child nutrition programs. These 10 organizations got the most money in reimbursements from 2020 through summer 2022.
Sponsor | Reimbursement |
---|---|
Life360 Community Services | $38,250,960 |
Church In Action Inc. dba Influence Church | $28,793,661 |
New Hope Fellowship, Fenton | $22,488,008 |
New Heights Community Resource Center | $20,702,054 |
Streets of Hope | $16,444,103 |
School District of Springfield R-12 | $15,910,403 |
Urban Sprouts | $10,724,386 |
Independence School District | $9,642,129 |
Waynesville R-VI | $9,552,570 |
Board of Education of the City of St Louis | $9,501,145 |