‘Disgusting’: Minnesota Lawmakers Probe Outgoing Food Bank CEO’s $721 Thousand Salary as Residents Face Hunger

The CEO of a nonprofit that helps feed people in Minnesota is under the microscope for the salary she reportedly earned in one year.

The issue surrounds Second Harvest Heartland CEO Allison O’Toole, who apparently raked in $721,000 in 2022, Alpha News reported on Wednesday.

The article said her earnings came as the nonprofit lobbied for taxpayer funds and issued warnings about the problem of people going hungry across the state.

In January, a study — conducted by Second Harvest Heartland with a research organization — found that one in five households in Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) Minnesota are food insecure, per Fox 9.

“Second Harvest Heartland said this is the first time it has ever conducted its own statewide hunger study,” the article said. “Second Harvest Heartland partnered with Wilder Research to conduct its first ever statewide hunger study. The organization said it wanted to better understand the current state of food insecurity in Minnesota to try to keep up with the growing need,” Fox added.

According to the Feeding America website, “In Minnesota, 537,890 people are facing hunger – and of them 183,480 are children.”

Now, lawmakers are probing the issue of O’Toole’s salary as she prepares to step down from her position.

According to her bio on the nonprofit’s website, she describes herself as a “CEO who does stuff.”

The Alpha News article continued:

Rep. Pam Altendorf, R-Red Wing, told Alpha News that O’Toole’s salary issue first surfaced during a recent “food day” at the Capitol, when food shelf representatives, including O’Toole, testified before the House Children and Families Committee.

“Rep. Bjorn Olson pulled the 990 [tax form] and shared Allison O’Toole’s salary with our committee members right before she testified,” Altendorf said. “That’s when the questions started.”

Altendorf said it is common knowledge there is a need for food banks in her state, but now people are wanting to know why a group claiming to be a nonprofit is allegedly paying its CEO so much.

She said, “This is disgusting and incomprehensible to the average person who’s living paycheck to paycheck.”

In a social media post on Wednesday, Altendorf said the CEO was stepping down, adding, “Non-Profits take note… Things are changing, the money-fueling system is being exposed, taxpayers are tired of the corrupt system set up to enrich a few.”

In addition, the Alpha News article said other executives with the nonprofit earn more than $300,000 annually, citing the 2022 tax records.