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Hundreds of bargain shoppers across the Tampa Bay area will have to seek out savings elsewhere after Angel Food Ministries announced Wednesday that it's laying off 90 employees and suspending food distribution for the rest of the month.
The nonprofit program — which partners with 5,000 churches, schools and host sites across the country to distribute quality food at low prices — attributed the halt to "operational and financial challenges" amid a faltering economy.
The sudden move stunned local distribution sites and customers at 34 churches across Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Many had already placed orders to be picked up later this month.
Angel Food apologized for the inconvenience and said it would issue refunds to those who had already placed orders. Meanwhile, the Georgia-based organization said it plans to resume distribution in "coming months" and, until then, it's seeking ways to "reorganize or restructure" operations.
"We're not daunted by this," spokesman Steve Savage said. "We think we will prevail because our mission is one of goodness."
The halt in service is only the latest setback for the 17-year-old nonprofit.
Since 2009, Angel Food Ministries has been the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation as well as a lawsuit filed by board members alleging misappropriation of funds by the nonprofit's leaders, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Walton Tribune.
The group is also embroiled in a lawsuit with a freight company that alleges Angel Food breached its contract.
Angel Food has said it can afford to offer groceries at as much as half the cost of local stores by buying in bulk, eliminating advertising and packaging fees, and relying on volunteers. Prices range from $17 to $55 per box of food.
But officials on Wednesday said the nonprofit was struggling in the face of rising costs for fuel, food and operations, as well as declining sales.
The group abruptly shut down its website and replaced its colorful home page with a statement about the suspension and an apology for the delay.
Officials said the group had laid off all 90 full-time staffers at its Monroe, Ga., headquarters. But Savage said many of those employees, including those in senior management and 55 outreach ministers who coordinate local sales, have vowed to stay on as volunteers.
"We don't have any paid employees at this point," he said.
Angel Food has 15 distribution sites in Pinellas County, 11 in Hillsborough and eight in Pasco, Savage said.
Susan Taylor, who has been buying Angel Food boxes for two years through St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Clearwater, had no idea that Angel Food was in trouble. She uses the boxes to feed her three children, ages 12, 17 and 17.
The 40-year-old Clearwater woman picked up her last order at her church at the end of August: five boxes of canned goods, vegetables, chicken, hamburgers, steak, eggs and milk.
The cost: $198, or about $40 per box. Taylor didn't keep track of her savings, but knew it was a significant bargain.
"It makes a difference," she said. "You have more money for more school supplies, more school clothes."
Keyonna Summers can be reached at ksummers@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4153.
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