A timeline of key events in the history of Feeding Our Future and its indicted director, Aimee Bock.
January 2015: Bock joins Providers Choice Inc. as manager of growth and development, where she meets Christine Twait, who served as Providers' director of nutrition education.
June 2015: Bock and Twait leave Providers after becoming dissatisfied with slow pace of growth and create Partners In Nutrition, a new sponsor for meals program. They file first application with Minnesota Department of Education two months later.
Nov. 5, 2015: MDE approves Partners as single site sponsor.
Jan 11, 2016: MDE denies Partners' request to become a multisite sponsor, saying Partners "has been unable to demonstrate that it has adequate sources of funds to operate" the meals program on a daily basis.
June 7, 2016: Partners in Nutrition sues MDE, claiming department wrongfully denied its application on basis that organization was not financially viable.
Nov. 7, 2016: Bock, Twait and Kara Lomen incorporate Feeding Our Future (FOF) as part of legal battle with MDE, giving them a second nonprofit to use as an entity to participate in meals program.
May 15, 2017: Minnesota Court of Appeals rules in favor of Partners, finding that department applied financial standards that "appear nowhere in the federal regulations."
June 6, 2017: MDE approves Partners as a multisite sponsor.
June 7, 2018: Partners terminates Bock as executive director for "misconduct."
July 27, 2018: MDE contracts with FOF to implement federally funded meals program. FOF is reimbursed $307,253 for meals at eight sites in its first full year.
Feb. 20, 2019: Partners files complaint with USDA claiming that Bock forged the names of other FOF founders and stole files belonging to Partners to win approval as a sponsor from MDE.
Feb. 15, 2020: IRS revokes FOF's 501(c)3 status for not filing required tax form.
June 23, 2020: MDE informs Partners in Nutrition that its complaint of inappropriate and unethical recruitment of meal sites by FOF "could not be substantiated."
Nov. 20, 2020: FOF files lawsuit against MDE in Ramsey County District Court claiming the agency has failed to act on 47 applications for meal sites within 30 days. Suit also claims MDE wrongfully withdrew approval for six meal sites that were feeding 27,600 children per day. Suit claims those six sites are owed $3.5 million for the meals they provided.
Nov. 23, 2020: At court hearing, MDE attorney acknowledged that the six sites should not have been terminated but blames USDA officials for the error.
Dec. 23, 2020: To resolve application dispute, MDE agrees to process FOF's meal site applications "in a reasonably prompt manner." Judge puts the agreement into an enforceable order.
December 2020: MDE denies dozens of FOF site applications because FOF exceeds caps for maximum children served daily.
Jan. 4, 2021: Bock registers Feeding our Future II with Secretary of State's Office and IRS. Bock later says she formed the new nonprofit so she could expand her meal program into other states, including Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio and Washington, but those plans never materialized.
Jan. 15, 2021: MDE informs FOF that it may terminate its participation in meals program because of "serious deficiencies" including failing to file required tax forms with IRS for three years and failing to provide an independent audit of its finances.
March 31, 2021: MDE informs FOF that it will no longer pay its reimbursement claims because it has not corrected various deficiencies. MDE notes that FOF is now seeking approval for 144 new meal sites, more than double the 118 sites FOF sponsored in 2020.
April 21, 2021: At hearing, Ramsey County District Judge John Guthmann tells MDE he sees no regulation allowing it to stop paying FOF while seeking more documents supporting its reimbursement claims. Judge also threatens to hold MDE in contempt of court if department doesn't act quickly on lingering applications.
April 2021: MDE contacts FBI and reports fraud suspicions involving FOF. FBI launches investigation following month.
April 30, 2021: MDE issued payments totaling $17.8 million to cover FOF's outstanding reimbursement claims, and approved another $5 million for pending claims. By end of year, FOF will receive $197.9 million from the department.
April 29, 2021: MDE informs FOF that it has denied all 185 pending site application requests because of the nonprofit's continuing failure to meet performance standards.
April 30, 2021: At hearing, Guthmann tells MDE's attorney that state can't deny FOF's applications on a wholesale basis, but must make a determination on the merits of each individual application. "You can't just stamp it denied," Guthmann says, warning department it will be in "hot water" if it disregards his instructions.
May 14, 2021: MDE Commissioner Heather Mueller meets with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials after FOF director Bock contacted various elected officials to seek their help in resolving dispute with MDE. Frey says he does not recall discussing FOF's concerns at meeting, but records show he was provided with talking points for the meeting by a Bock intermediary.
June 4, 2021: MDE informs FOF that it has "fully and permanently corrected" all of its serious deficiencies.
June 23, 2021: At hearing, Guthmann scolds MDE for dragging its feet on site applications. "The process should only take a few days and not a few months," said Guthmann, noting some sites sat for 150 days with no action by MDE.
June 24, 2021: Guthmann issues order holding MDE in contempt of court for violating his December 2020 order requiring the department to take prompt action on FOF's site applications. He orders MDE to pay $35,750 to FOF as a sanction for its conduct.
July 13, 2021: MDE supervisor notifies the court that MDE has started work on processing 143 pending site applications and approved at least five. By end of 2021, MDE approved 387 sites for FOF, more than three times the size of FOF's network in 2020.
Jan. 20: Feeding Our Future investigation breaks into public view as FBI and other law enforcement personnel search search more than a dozen locations, including Bock's home and FOF office in St. Anthony.
April 3: Senate Judiciary holds first of several public hearings on MDE's oversight of Feeding Our Future. Mueller defends the department, saying, "Throughout the FBI's investigation, our MDE staff have been praised for their diligence in identifying concerns in the program so quickly."
Sept. 20: U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger announces criminal charges against Bock and 47 other people affiliated with Feeding Our Future, alleging the conspirators stole $250 million in taxpayer funds meant to feed needy children. Luger says more indictments are coming.
Sources: Court documents, other public records and Star Tribune reporting.
Feeding Our Future: Previous coverage
