A planned fundraiser for an Orange City charity — founded and operated by a City Council member — was stopped before it could be hatched.
The City Council would not even consider a request by Council Member Kellianne Marks to stage an event for Backpack Buddies, a nonprofit organization she established in 2019 to provide food for children from low-income families who would otherwise be hungry when they are not at school.
By partnering with organizations such as Second Harvest and Florida Farm Share, Backpack Buddies also arranges drive-by distributions of food to needy households.
In any case, the After Dark Egg Hunt idea went nowhere fast Feb. 27 amid a debate about Marks’ role in Backpack Buddies and the municipal government, and whether she has a conflict of interest.
“I’m being challenged because there are a couple of people in town who don’t like me,” she told The Beacon later.
Marks had asked the Orange City Council to authorize an event known as the After Dark Egg Hunt, set for March 30, Easter Eve, in Mill Lake Park. The egg hunt would be a family event, not restricted to children.
“Bring a flashlight,” she said, noting the eggs would be out of plain sight but could be discovered.
Council members raised questions about Marks’ proposed After Dark Egg Hunt, with concerns about people wandering around after sunset near water. The climax in the debate was between Marks and Council Member Anthony Pupello. The verbal volleying became intense:
Pupello: “You receive a paycheck from a not-for-profit that is raising money through this event.”
Marks: “Right.”
Pupello: “You are receiving financial gain. … It does not sit well, as a council member. If anybody else did that, I would not agree with it. … You are receiving financial gain.”
Marks: “I am not. It’s a fundraiser.“
Pupello: “Do you get a paycheck from that company?”
Marks: “I do, but it’s a fundraiser.
“Have you ever worked for a nonprofit?
“How do you think we feed the kids in this city?
“I put 60 hours a week in. My organization is paying for it, yes.
Pupello: “To me, there should be a separation.”
Marks: “I’m not asking for money. I am asking for approval of an event.”
Pupello: “To me, we should be a thousand feet from this. … Community folks have come to me and implored me to ask that question, and you have no problem with it.”
In any case, the planned After Dark Egg Hunt will not take place, as no member of the City Council would advance it for formal action.
“It dies for lack of a motion,” Mayor Gary Blair ruled.
Afterward, Marks said she receives from Backpack Buddies a salary of $725 per week, “before taxes.” For the first three years of the group’s existence, she added, she took no pay. The organization’s board of directors voted to pay her as executive director, and her original salary was considerably lower.
“I got $425 a week,” Marks recalled.
The board last year approved the big increase.
“I’m OK with that,” she said.
“I put in 60 hours a week,” Marks added, referring to Backpack Buddies.
As a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, Backpack Buddies is required to file a Form 990 with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, in lieu of a federal income tax return. Backpack Buddies’ Form 990 for 2022, the most recent year available, shows the organization received donations of $704,600 during that fiscal year. The charity’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30: Thus, the reporting for the 2023 fiscal year has not been done.
On a related note, however, Marks provided to The Beacon a copy of her W-2 for Backpack Buddies, which shows her earnings from the organization for the 2023 calendar year as $24,725. If indeed she works 60 hours a week for 50 weeks of the year — allowing two weeks off for vacation — that equals 3,000 hours of work for the charity, and the hourly rate of pay is $8.24. That number is well below the current Florida minimum wage of $14 per hour.
Her work with Backpack Buddies is on top of Marks’ duties as a City Council member and working as an events planner. Her firm, known as KMarks Enterprises LLC, arranged the Moose Market, a farmers market that acquired its name via a Moose lodge’s involvement in the activity. The Moose Market has been rechristened the Manatee Market, and is a special event on most Saturdays at the Heritage Inn, 300 S. Volusia Ave., on a trial basis approved by the Orange City Council.
