The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, which helps thousands of food-insecure residents put meals on the table each month, temporarily closed Monday without notice, and its executive director said she has been placed on paid leave after raising a concern about potential fraud.
Staff members placed a sign above the pantry’s window saying they were on strike due to board malfeasance, apparently in support of their boss.
The nonprofit’s executive director confirmed she’s been placed on leave after raising her concerns to the board.
The president of the SCV Food Pantry’s governing board denied any impropriety Monday.
Food Pantry board members showed up Monday to their storefront location at 24133 Railroad Ave., where client deliveries and distribution primarily take place, to find the doors were locked and the passwords changed.
Board President Andrew Taban said Monday the board showed up to meet with staff, but no one was there, the signs were in place and they had to call a locksmith.
He said the board’s priority at Monday’s meeting is to figure out how service can be restored by Wednesday after a food delivery that day was cancelled.
“The No. 1 concern of this board and the organization is to continue serving the community,” Taban said Monday, “and that is what we plan to do and discuss (Monday night) of how we can continue doing that, moving forward and ensuring that the people who need us the most will get the services from us.”
A sign hung out front above its windows that read: “On Strike Due to Board Misconduct.”
Accusations against the board have come from the organization’s executive director, Joanne Ainsworth, according to a copy of a “complaint to the California Attorney General regarding a charity or charitable solicitation” obtained by The Signal.
Ainsworth, who had been with the organization since January 2024, said Monday in a phone interview that she was placed on administrative leave on Friday, which was nine days after she sent the complaint.
She declined to comment on the situation other than to confirm she has hired an attorney.
Her letter to the Attorney General’s Office dated Jan. 14 alleges a “fraudulent misappropriation of funds” through the hiring of a human resources professional.
A letter that accompanied the complaint alleged that hiring an HR professional should have been Ainsworth’s job due to the organization’s bylaws, but she was chastised for trying to find a firm. Ainsworth alleged the board then ended up choosing someone who had a relationship to two board members at a cost significantly more than a quote she had found.
“I have changed all of the passwords to sensitive information and alerted the bank and appropriate staff that these actors are not allowed to have access to the accounts at any time for any reason. I am seriously concerned that they will attempt to do so anyway by firing me and taking control of the finances through the IT company that works for the organization,” she wrote in her letter to the AG’s office.
The person who received the contract is not named in Ainsworth’s letter and is identified only as an “HR professional.”
Taban said Monday he had not seen the complaint, but that he was familiar with Ainsworth’s concerns, as she had brought them up previously.
The Food Pantry issued a statement Monday evening in response to the temporary closure.
“On Jan. 1, 2026, the current board of directors, a group of dedicated professional and community leaders, each accomplished in their own respective fields, commenced their 2026 term and began requesting certain information and the inspection of certain corporate records in the fulfillment of its fiduciary duties,” read the statement. “Those requests have been met with delays and/or refusals.”
“The board of directors of the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry categorically denies it has engaged in any misconduct or wrongdoing whatsoever, but rather, has simply and repeatedly demanded access and answers.”
The California Department of Justice sent an automated reply Monday in response to an inquiry about the complaint, and there was no spokesperson available.
“There is no relationship between the two (board members) and the human resources company,” Taban said in a phone interview. “The only time that they’ve ever seen each other, as many of us in the Santa Clarita Valley do, was just out and about.”
