In January, the FBI searched Feeding Our Future’s offices in St. Anthony. Many of the subcontractors under investigation are from the Somali community, according to FBI materials released so far.
The Somali American leaders who convened a meeting at Minneapolis’ Karmel Mall was urgent: FBI agents had been questioning business owners and shoppers about a fraud investigation involving government-funded child nutrition programs, and the leaders felt the entire community was once again under siege.
The meeting was teeming with anxiety. Would a few people being investigated deter Somali American parents from seeking food for their children, even if they were in urgent need? Would additional assistance programs become extinct as a result of the public’s mistrust?
“This is having a negative impact on the community.”