Jared Fogle's Child Obesity Foundation an Apparent Sham
In this July 7, 2015 file photo, Jared Fogle leaves a mobile evidence-gathering lab outside his home in Zionsville, Ind. (Image via Charlie Nye/The Indianapolis Star via AP)
Jared Fogle had something for minors, but it wasn’t money: Turns out his foundation to help battle childhood obesity did little but raise the Subway pitchman’s profile, USA Today reports. According to tax records, the Jared Fogle Healthy Lifestyle Nationwide School Grant Program spent an average of just $73,000 annually between 2009 and 2013 and never issued a grant. This despite Fogle’s promise to give schools and community organizations $2 million to battle the condition that so affected his own life.
“My goal is to help children avoid the physical and emotional hardships I went through living with obesity,” he said at the time, per a press release. The 2008 release outlined a plan to offer $20,000 grants to up to 50 schools (for a total of $1 million) in that same year.
Seems 60% of the non-profit’s documented expenditures went to executive director Russell Taylor, 43 (now jailed on child pornography charges), and 26% went who knows where. What’s more, records show that his organization hadn’t paid a $5 yearly registration fee to the State of Indiana since 2008, when the non-profit was slated to begin operations. In fact, Indiana dissolved the Jared Fogle Healthy Lifestyle Nationwide School Grant Program three years ago, although it’s still recognized by the IRS.
“As with a lot of celebrities, the charity appears to be more about image-enhancement than charitable deeds,” says a charity analyst. Fogle, who has apparently pleaded guilty to child porn charges, was outed by an ex-journalist who secretly recorded him for years.
By Neal Colgrass
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This article originally appeared on Newser: Jared Fogle’s Foundation an Apparent Sham
