Candies Foundation Spends Big Dollars on Palin, Little on Prevention

As reported today by Jezebel.com, the Candies Foundation, which touts itself as being focused on preventing teen pregnancy, spent far more on one teen mom, Bristol Palin, than on any real initiative to prevent teens from getting pregnant.

Irin Carmon, writing for Jezebel.com, reports that in 2009, the Candies Foundation spent all of $35,000 to fund teen pregnancy prevention initiatives out of more than $2.2 million in assets.  But one teen mom, Bristol Palin, made out big.

The Candie’s Foundation’s stated mission, writes Carmon, is “to educate America’s youth about the devastating consequences of teen pregnancy through celebrity PSA campaigns and initiatives.” Their strategy in doing so is often confusing since they portray sexualized images of teens and young adult women such as Bristol Palin to sell their shoes, while preaching abstinence to teens, a strategy that, when detached from a comprehensive approach to sex ed, has proven to be completely ineffective.

“But a close look at their 2009 tax forms shows that there’s far more “celebrity” than “initiatives” involved,” she writes. That year, the foundation paid Bristol Palin $262,500.  About $25,000 was given to the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, and $10,000 to the National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

“That’s just over a tenth of what went to Palin,” notes Carmon. Even more unusual is the stipulation, entered on page 23, she continues, that “The organization has no procedures in place for monitoring the use of grant funds.”

Most years, the foundation also spends a big chunk of money on a celebrity-studded gala called Event to Prevent. In 2009 this was a Town Hall meeting that cost $770,240. The foundation asked the IRS for an extension this year on reporting further details, but the 2007 filing shows that that year, the event generated a loss of $334,761.

Carmon reports that efforts to follow up with Candies on how it allocates funds and on its record-keeping have yet to yield a response.  Meanwhile, courtesy of Jezebel, the full filing is here.