Golfing, jewelry, and a reality show: where money meant to feed hungry kids was actually going

Payments for country club dues, luxury jet services, and even a reality show competition are not how you'd expect a community non-profit to use its donations, but the CBS News Texas I-Team found tens of thousands of dollars in questionable spending by a charity that was supposed to be feeding low-income children.

It's been six months since the I-Team's first investigation showing how a Dallas nonprofit had secretly stopped doing the work it promoted. Now we're finally getting a look at the finances to see how the grants and donations have been used.

How it started

For years, Hunger Busters had relied on corporate volunteers and restaurant donations to help feed thousands of Dallas Independent School District children a third meal after school.

Latame Phillips, a onetime delivery driver at the nonprofit, took over as CEO in 2023. He increased the number of board members, planned and promoted large-scale fundraisers, and managed all of the finances and record-keeping.

Phillips served as CEO of Hunger Busters from 2023 to January 2026.

But at some point, the meals stopped. Our investigation found that the only people using the kitchen now work for a meal prep company that makes salads and wraps for Dallas coffee shops.

In January, Phillips admitted it had been at least a year since the nonprofit last made regular meal deliveries.

Another nonprofit that gave Hunger Busters approximately $116,000 in grants is suing to get the money back. Tyler Street Foundation requested bank records as part of the discovery process. When Phillips and his attorney failed to turn them over, the foundation subpoenaed the banks. While discovery is shielded from public view, subpoenaed information can be shared, which is how the I-Team obtained the statements.

"It's just a mess."

After we combed through five years of records, we asked two nonprofit experts to do the same. Both said the spending raises serious concerns.

"I'm really lost for words," said Laurie Styron, the CEO of Charity Watch. "I don't come across situations this dire very often."

New York University professor Thad Calabrese expressed similar concerns, saying the records were a "sign of a suboptimal - to put it lightly - a suboptimal control system."

For example:

• $33,125 in payments to Million Air, a company specializing in charter flights and private hangar storage
• $14,447 in dues to ClubCorp, a nationwide golf club membership program
• $9,500 in payments to The Blox, a reality show competition and mentoring program for entrepreneurs

The Hunger Busters payments to Million Air were evenly split and paid over the course of a year. It is unclear what the payments were for, but company employees we contacted said it is unlikely the amount is enough to cover the use of a private jet. Still, Calabrese says any kind of travel expenses should go through layers of approval and be properly justified. 

"There better be some kind of documentation about why that is absolutely critical and the only possible way to accomplish what the organization is trying to do," Calabrese said.

It's also unclear why Hunger Busters paid for private club use. According to the bank records, the first payment to ClubCorp happened in October 2023 and continued monthly, with amounts varying.

Styron said she has seen large nonprofits spend money at golf clubs or country clubs as a way to gain high-dollar donations through networking, but she questioned that approach for Hunger Busters. 

"Those are really the only instances where we see those kinds of transactions justified," said Styron. "And for a charity of this size, it's pretty much unheard of."

The reality show payments

Phillips competed in season 20 of the week-long Blox boot camp in January 2025. In episodes posted online, Phillips claims he started Hunger Busters, which is not true.

The former chair of the board at Hunger Busters told the I-Team that Phillips told trustees the show paid him to appear, adding, "at no time was it communicated that this opportunity cost anything to the organization."

Bank records show Phillips paid $4,000 as a competition fee, then an additional $5,500 for additional mentoring and coaching.

In a statement, a spokesperson, Cassie Cregger COO, for Blox Ventures, told the I-Team:

"During his participation, Mr. Phillips discussed, learned about, and promoted Hunger Busters within that educational context. Directing a nonprofit leader toward entrepreneurship education and skills development could reasonably be argued to support an organization's broader operational mission. We want to be clear that we are not making that argument to rehabilitate his reputation. If the allegations you are reporting are accurate they are serious, embarrassing, and entirely inconsistent with the values of our community. We have permanently revoked his access to all of our programs and events as a result.
"What we can say with confidence is that every dollar he spent with our organization went toward legitimate entrepreneurship education programming. None of it was misappropriated, and we do not believe participation in educational programming constitutes an inappropriate use of professional development funds.
Regarding awards: Mr. Phillips did receive recognition through one of our program awards. We want to be precise here because it matters to your reporting. The specific award he received does not carry a monetary prize. While some of our awards do include financial recognition, his did not. Any representation to the contrary to his board or otherwise would be inaccurate."

Two months after filming, Phillips also used Hunger Busters money to give $25,000 to a toy company owned by one of the show's mentors. The woman, who helped judge contestants in Phillips' season, told the I-Team she had a written investment agreement with Phillips.

Other curious payments

There are pages of purchases that do not appear to have obvious links to the mission of feeding children brown bag meals. For example:

• $411.95 to a Zales jewelry store in Mesquite
• $1,834.56 to a medical boutique in Arlington
• $2,500 for tickets to InvestFest, an annual conference focused on business, wealth, and culture

It's unclear who else knew about the spending during Phillips' time as CEO. He was the only one signing the checks and making withdrawals on the accounts we've seen. The experts say that alone is a red flag. 

"You would not want the person who is approving payments to be the same person signing checks," said Calabrese.

"Thousands of dollars in purchases for anything, the board should really be involved at a deeper level," echoed Styron.

Both say it's difficult to get a full picture of the finances without internal ledgers. Six months after resigning, Phillips has yet to turn over any records. Even the IRS says it has not received required financial filings in three years.

Phillips did not respond to our requests for comment, but his attorney, LeDouglas Johnson, sent us this statement:

"Thank you for reaching out for comment. As you know, our firm represents The Food Foundation d/b/a Hunger Busters and Dr. Latame Phillips in the pending civil litigation. Because this matter is actively being litigated, we are not going to try the case through the media or respond to isolated characterizations of financial records without first reviewing the specific documents, dates, amounts, and context on which your inquiry is based.
We do not agree that a list of vendor names, standing alone, fairly establishes personal misuse or spending unrelated to Hunger Busters' charitable operations, fundraising, donor relations, or organizational activities. The parties' respective positions will be addressed in the appropriate forum."