The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is battling the Henry & Rilla White Foundation over claims the foundation has operated illegally as a for-profit organization with School Food Authority (SFA) as part of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Florida Politics reported.
Established by Harry Truman in 1946, the NSLP is a federally-assisted program that provides free lunches to nonprofit and public schools as well as residential childcare institutions. The Henry & Rilla White Foundation has been a participating member of the NSLP for over a decade, then granted by commissioner Adam Putnam.
FDACS' legal claims against the White Foundation have confused many as the group holds nonprofit designation and is not a for-profit organization. The FDACS still maintains that the organization must reimburse the government approximately $13 million after a review of its status sometime between 2019-2020, court documents indicate.
The White Foundation has appealed. Sometime between 2019-2020, the FDACS conducted a review of the foundation's NSLP membership and found that it was operating outside of said designation as a for-profit organization.
It has been reported that the foundation won an initial appeal with an administrative hearing officer, which has since been challenged by the FDACS.
"Our firm represents the Henry and Rilla White Youth foundation in the proceedings pending before the First District Court of Appeal against the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. While we believe the hearing officer’s order was correct, we do not wish to comment on pending litigation beyond what is in set forth in our briefs and pleadings. I can provide our closing brief that was submitted to the agency if you do not have that already," attorney George Levesque said.