Feed The Hungry Children
Paving the way with good intentions...
Charities sound like noble pursuits and most begin honorably enough be it a foundation to help elderly or a child's lemonade stand to raise money for a school trip. Others, however, are often used as fronts for rather unsavoury activities or to put a philanthropic face to a nefarious organization. Japan's criminal underworld is notorious for laundering ill-gotten gains through the facade of charity. Charities might begin with all the good intentions in the world but over time become so bloated and bogged down with corporatization they no longer resemble a benevolent endeavor and operational costs and salaries vastly outweigh actual dispensed charity. Feed The Hungry Children began innocently enough with the promise of donating to struggling families locally, but their sphere has expanded to several neighboring nations and they strive to expand their goals and ambitions farther. Their revenue has grown by leaps and bounds recently, but critics cite a noticeable decline in neighborhood impact and insist the foundation needs a thorough cleaning from the top down.
Structure
Collections are handled locally through grocery chains and coordinated through district and regional managers. Executive staff at the very top oversee everything from seasonal donation drives to new promotional campaigns.
Culture
Supposedly founded by the concerned young daughter of a wealthy tycoon, the foundation was initially intended to be "hands free" with donations going directly to procuring supplies and provisions, but as it has grown over the years critics say more hands have been "dipping into the pot" with participating stores encouraged to attain incrementally higher daily donation quotas. Representatives are encouraged to promote and request donations constantly, and to "clinch the sale" using whatever tactics available.
Public Agenda
FTHC purports to use funds to obtain nutritious food for struggling families, of which there are quite a few even in a country as prosperous as Japan. They also engage in local disaster relief and domestic outreach targeting single parents.
Assets
The organization is notoriously tight-lipped about their expenditures despite laws requiring financial transparency, and even provided documents raise suspicions with leadership accused of "cooking the books". They have launched a number of advertising campaigns on television and billboards claiming "donation shortfalls" and "urgent help is needed" but actively turn away donated food and goods instead preferring solely monetary gifts. Critics point out that executives confer almost rock-star status to themselves in spite of claims of financial stress.
History
Originally spun off from a proposal by a very young Raven Maestral before being converted into a philanthropic subsidiary of RavenTech. After the passing of CEO Osprey Maestral, the charity is puppeteered by the Board of Directors to give itself a charitable face and stave off accusations plaguing the company. It's status following the explosive expose implicating the Board in Osprey's murder is unknown.
Events of Spacequake
Mia Koji, under the secret influence of the fire demon, runs afoul of one of the charity's advocates. Demonic possession or not, even Mia finds her patience worn thin by persistent pestering.The clerk at the cashier stand finished ringing everything up on the register. "Okay miss, there's your total. Now, before I go to the pay screen, would you like to make a donation to the Feed the Hungry Children Foundation?" the cashier chirped in an almost expectant tone. Mia said nothing and stared ahead into space. The cashier fidgeted in place and toyed with the front of her apron. Just finish checkout already... "Um...Miss?...Miss?" I don't care about your stupid charity, okay? "...Miss?" the cashier pressed again, apparently content to hold Mia's groceries hostage. You can't take a hint? Do I have to shout it for you? I just want to get home and spend some time with my son... People in the line behind Mia started to get impatient and mutter under their breaths. Mia's brow furrowed slightly and she set her jaw. "...Miss?!" "If I'm not saying anything, then that means no, okay!?" Mia snapped abruptly and narrowed her eyes. Ryu looked up at her, puzzled by her outburst. "Oh wow..." someone said in the line behind her. "'Oh wow' yourself!!" Mia bellowed and whirled around to glower at those standing in line. "These big brand grocery chains make billions in revenue because they keep marking up their prices year after year, and yet they try to bilk customers even further trying to guilt-trip us with 'charity'?! If they want to solve the world's problems they can pay for it with their own money and stop trying to wheedle every spare penny out of parents like me! I work hard for every cent I earn! If I want to help someone I'll do it on my own time at my discretion, not feed money into the pockets of shady charities where a tiny percent actually helps and the rest the leadership squanders on itself!"Last Dance
"The Board may be in tatters, but their lieutenants are trying to consolidate power under the Feed The Hungry Children Foundation, using my little brother's likeness to raise funds," Raven muttered.
"Oh wow! I had no idea you were connected with them. Mia hates them!" Demon Ryo quipped. Raven huffed and visibly rolled her eyes under her mask.
"It was a stupid little idea I pitched as a child. My father wanted me to learn how to be fiscally responsible. It was supposed to be something simple, like a lemonade stand. Now it's mutated into this bloated corporate parasite that needs to be put down just like everything else associated with the Board."
Territories
Headquarters are located in Tokyo, Japan with satellite offices in each of the prefectures and new offices opening in Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Foreign Relations
FTHC primarily focuses its efforts in Asian-Pacific countries, but internationally is often overshadowed by other older, more established charities who view it as an upstart trying to muscle in on a piece of the pie.
Spare Cents Makes a Difference!
Give (or else)... by Mardrena
Mia scowled and glanced at her watch again. More daylight lost... Now she had to go through checkout herself, and as usual the clerks took their sweet time scanning everything.
Founding Date
Late 1990's Earth-Time
Type
Activist, Charity
Alternative Names
Save The Starving, Feed All Children, FTHC
Pushy Cashier by Mardrena
"Finish ringing me up, NOW!" Mia growled. The cashier looked outright terrified and put in the final total and Mia all-but threw her payment on the counter. Ryu looked troubled but kept quiet. "Preach!" Mia thought she heard a young man crow in the line.
All artwork used is self-made and belongs to me unless otherwise stated, such as kitbashes and commissions. Age of Defiance does not and will not use or feature RW/YST original artwork out of consideration for the OAS creators
Comments
Author's Notes
This was inspired by a character from the made-for-tv-movie "The Second Civil War" who is willingly used as a pawn by the White House against the Governor of Idaho. The leader is more worried about being associated with other similarly named charities than actually helping children and is all-to complicit using truckloads of displaced children from overseas to attempt to force Idaho to cave. Another inspiration stems from my personal experiences and outright disgust with big-name charities that have been shown time and time again to spend nearly 90% of revenue on "operational costs and salaries" while only 10% or less goes to actual outreach. Probably the most egregious cases I witnessed during Hurricane Harvey where infamous prosperity-pastor Joel Osteen refused to allow his million-dollar megachurch Lakewood to be used to house flood refugees meanwhile Jim "Mattress Mack" McInvale allowed his Gallery Furniture showrooms to house first responders and personally provided supplies and relief to flood victims. I made the mistake of donating to "Samaritan's Purse" founded by Franklin Graham because I heard they were highly rated and had a almost 99% direct charity expenditure with only 1% going to operational costs. I donated to help Hurricane Harvey victims. Then months later I find myself peppered with emails asking for donations to help "the Rohinggya in Myanmar". I'm not made of money. I work(ed) retail. I want my dollars to go to LOCAL outreach, LOCAL issues. I don't give two sh**s about "the Rohinggyas in Myanamar" who I've read are actually not very good people. There are communities in Addicks and Barker areas in Houston that for years after Harvey did not get relief funds promised after the reservoirs broke their banks. Even recently with Hurricane Helene the most work done on the ground came from grassroots organization Cajun Navy, a bunch of working men with big trucks and boats that engage in high-water rescues and deliver supplies to struggling families. However government-run disaster relief departments that run off of tax-payer dollars were caught red-handed actively refusing aid to communities because of "problematic beliefs" and in some cases attempting to destroy or confiscate supplies. The scene with Mia was inspired by a personal experience at a local Panda Express I used to frequent in Houston. They used to have a donation jar and I'd drop in spare change I had on hand, but then they removed the jar and started asking for donations up front. I started getting frustrated when they would ask for donations first before finalizing my purchase and I conducted an experiment where I would say nothing. The cashier kept pestering twice until I finally snapped and I resolved never to eat there ever again. So yeah, I am through with big-name charities. If I donate it will be to someone directly in need or local community-run outreaches.