A Food Bank Fight Fumes in Delco

A sign for Media Food Bank at First United Methodist Church. This is where a lawsuit has erupted over another Media food bank (Photo by Matthew Roy)

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It’s Media Food Bank Versus Media Food Bank in Delco

Food banks are an invaluable part of our community, providing aid to those who need it. The importance of food banks to the general public was never more obvious than during the pandemic. That’s when we saw dystopian lines of people waiting for food. And food banks are pretty much the last place you’d expect to find fierce feuding going on. And yet, Delco provides us with just that.

On the one side, you have Media Food Bank. This is a well-established organization that has been providing food to locals since the 1990s. That Media Food Bank is part the First United Methodist Church of Media. The church dates back to the mid-19th century.

On the other side, you have … another Media Food Bank, an organization formed just in the last few months. And the church’s Media Food Bank is hopping mad over this development of there being another Media Food Bank, or at least as mad as a Methodist is supposed to get.

So what’s going on here?

As you probably know, food banks rely on volunteers. And a guy named Paul Mickle was one of the most trusted volunteers at the bank at the church. According to a recently filed lawsuit (yes, a food bank fight has resulted in a lawsuit), Mickle made a major career move in July 2023, asking the church to hire him to do the work he had long been doing as a volunteer. The church agreed to make Mickle director of operations and community engagement. But, according to the suit, the church soon realized that it needed to find somebody with more leadership experience to do the job. In November, the church told Mickle this. They asked him to stay on in some capacity, and work with the new director.

Around the same time, says the church in the lawsuit, it became aware that someone — the church wasn’t sure who — had registered the name “Media Food Bank” with Pennsylvania’s Department of State. That person, we now know, was Mickle. The church confronted Mickle about the new registration. Within days, he submitted his resignation to the church and, according to the church’s allegations, set himself up as president of his own Media Food Bank.

The church’s lawsuit, originally filed in Delaware County Court but just moved to Philadelphia’s federal court by Mickle’s attorney, Andre Richard Desir, alleges that Mickle used his position at the church’s food bank to gain access to phone numbers and other contact information with companies and organizations that had long supported the church’s food bank — supporters like Trader Joe’s and Wegmans — to try to leverage those relationships to get support for his own food bank. He also allegedly attempted to “co-opt the contract” the church’s food bank had with the main local non-profit that distributes goods to food banks in order to divert donations to his food bank.

The church also alleges that Mickle retained control of the Facebook page for the church’s Media Food Bank after his resignation and that he refuses to turn over the password to it. Additionally, the church claims that Mickle continues to use Facebook to post confusing messages about what is happening with the church’s food bank.

While Mickle may have control over the Facebook page in question, he does not appear to have control of the website. There, we found the following message:

To address any confusion regarding the transition in our Food Bank: a group of volunteers has decided to pull away and start their own food bank. Unfortunately they have claimed the “Media Food Bank” name for their purposes. We will be rebranding our Food Bank in the coming weeks. In the meantime, our food bank remains the important resource it has always been, continuing to address food insecurity in our community and beyond.

Our operations remain under the non-profit, 501(c)(3) status of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, ensuring all donations are strictly used for Food Bank purposes. We urge you to direct your generous donations to our church office or through our official website. Contributions made to the new address on the Media Food Bank Facebook page will not reach us. We apologize for any inconvenience and will provide further updates to ensure transparency and clarity.

The suit accuses the new Media Food Bank of being “unfair and deceptive” and for interfering with contractual relationships, while also accusing Mickle himself of breaching his fiduciary duties to the church.

A state judge has ordered Mickle to turn over the password for the Facebook page and to change the name of the food bank, the latter of which he has done at the state level. The new name: Delco Food Bank.

But Desir, Mickle’s attorney, says it’s all very “complicated.” Desir tells Philly Mag that he moved the case from state court to federal court late on Monday night because he believes there are some important federal issues at play.

First, Desir claims that Mickle set up the Facebook page for the church’s Media Food Bank many years ago on his own volition and that he has always controlled it and solely maintained the password for it. “The password is something he created and that is in his head,” says Desir. “And now you have a state actor [the judge] trying to force him to reveal it.” Desir believes that this may violate federal law. “The Facebook page is really what this entire fight is about,” he adds. “And the ownership and control over social media accounts is, in many ways, unchartered territory.”

And then there’s the issue of freedom of speech. Desir believes that Mickle has a right to use Facebook under the name of the group he created to speak about the church and both food banks.

“Paul isn’t doing this for riches,” insists Desir. “He is doing it for charity. Literally, all he cares about is making sure that hungry and homeless people get fed … Paul was literally doing this for decades at the church, and nobody paid attention, because the food bank was serving maybe 50 to 75 people a week. But then, when COVID hit, suddenly the donations were pouring in and the food bank received more in donations than any underlying ministry at the church. When no money is involved, nobody cares. And when, suddenly, hundreds of thousands of dollars are pouring in, people start caring.”

Desir tells me that Mickle just signed a lease with another church a few blocks away from First United Methodist Church of Media where his food bank will be housed. “All this time, he’s been performing home deliveries for people,” says Desir. “But I just talked to him last night when he was picking up a fridge. I expect his food bank to be open to the public in about 20 days.”

Darryl Wayne Shorter, attorney for the church, says that Desir’s constitutional theories are “claims that are ridiculous on its face.” Shorter insists that the church is very much ready for this matter to be over and says he is disheartened that Desir has chosen to elevate the matter to federal court.

“As always, the church just wants to serve the community and feed people,” says Shorter.

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