The co-founder and volunteer treasurer of an Oregon Christian charity killed himself earlier this month after being accused of transferring more than $1-million from the organization to his private and business accounts, The Register-Guard, of Eugene, reports.

Dennis Solin, 61, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound near a Eugene mortuary June 2, a few minutes after he’d called 911 to report that someone had committed suicide there. State authorities and the FBI were investigating a string of withdrawals he’d made from the Life Connection Foundation, which gave money to religious organizations.

Mr. Solin disappeared on May 13, leaving a typed confession to his wife that he had taken money from the 12-year-old organization and advising her to divorce him, according to documents released to The Register-Guard under a public-records request. The charity’s president had...

Angel Food Ministries, an Atlanta-area nonprofit organization that sells low-cost food to the poor and jobless nationwide, has let go nearly a fifth of its workforce over the past two weeks, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.

A spokesman for the charity said rising shipping costs prompted Angel Food to lay off 49 of its 260 employees and reduce managers’ salaries by up to 20 percent. The organization sells discount groceries through a national network of more than 5,000 churches.

Last year the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service raided the charity’s Monroe, Ga., headquarters, but nothing came of the investigation. The organization has since undergone an audit, and Mr. Wingo's wife and one of his sons have left Angel Food.

The nonprofit organization formed by the oil industry after the Exxon Valdez disaster to provide ready access to cleanup equipment and personnel in case of a major offshore oil leak has been swamped by the BP spill, according to The Washington Post.

The Herndon, Va.-based Marine Spill Response Corporation, which has 400 employees and a fleet of large oil-recovery ships, has responded to 700 spills since oil-producing and -transport firms founded it under congressional pressure in the early 1990s, but none have approached the magnitude of the gulf spill.

The organization “has never had to deal with anything even remotely this large and chaotic,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group that has sued BP over the spill.

Many of the untrained volunteers descending on the gulf in hopes of cleaning up oil-soaked birds a...

The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Del., must share as much as $120-million in a pool it administers with victims of sexual abuse by priests, says Bloomberg.

The judge overseeing the diocese’s bankruptcy ruled Monday that the $120-million in an investment account should be considered part of the case.

Scores of abuse victims who have sued the diocese and some of its parishes – cases delayed by the diocese’s October filing for Chapter 11 protection – are potential creditors, as are church employees facing possible pension losses and parishes that contributed to the investment account.

Fund raising by major British charities suffered significantly less than expected in the early stages of the recession, Third Sector Online writes.

A survey of the country’s 500 biggest nonprofit groups by Charity Market Monitor, a publication that tracks giving trends, found that their revenue fell by about $96-million, or 1.1 percent, during the 2008-9 fiscal year. The publication previously forecast that the decline would be more than three times higher.

Cathy Pharoah, a professor at London’s Cass Business School and the report’s author, said it showed that “the public has not deserted charities,” but she added that organizations’ overall income could drop significantly as the British government enacts cuts in social spending.

British charities have already seen reductions of about $4.5-million in the past month due to the government cutbacks, with arts organization taking most of ...

Harlem Stage, a much-lauded New York venue that was advised by some experts to close as its deficit mounted, has turned its financial fortunes around through a mix of budget cuts, aggressive fund raising, new programs, and cost-sharing partnerships with other groups, writes The New York Times.

The organization, which frequently showcases new works by minority artists, was able to eliminate its accumulated operating deficit without layoffs.

In other arts news, the online magazine The Root looks at how renowned African-American dance companies such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Dance Theatre of Harlem are weathering the economic downturn.

And Southern California’s Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens closes out an ambitious six-year campaign Wednesday after taking in $243-million, exceeding its goal by nearly $70-million, says the Los Angeles...

The X Prize Foundation, which regularly offers cash awards for solutions to large-scale technological challenges, is building its latest $10-million competition around the BP oil spill, the Associated Press and Fast Company write.

Francis Beland, a vice president of the foundation, announced the proposed contest Monday at a conference. The organization, which has previously given out prizes for designing DNA-sequencing technology, a super-fuel-efficient vehicle, and a spacecraft, has already received 35,000 unsolicited proposals for ways to stop the spill.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has no plans to cut ties with BP, which signed a $15-million sponsorship deal with the organization in February, the Associated Press writes.

A spokesman for the committee, whose board discussed the situation in a meeting Monday, said no changes are planned in the partnership, which runs through 2012 and...

Local officials in New Jersey are calling on Princeton University to increase its payments in lieu of taxes to aid strapped local governments, Bloomberg reports.

The university, whose $12.6-billion endowment is the fourth-highest among U.S. institutions, would owe about $28-million if all its property in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township were taxed, according to Kevin Wilkes, a member of the borough council and a Princeton graduate.

The university made a $1.2-million voluntary payment last year under an agreement due to expire in 2011 and paid $9.8-million in sewer fees and taxes on commercial properties it owns, such as parking lots and staff-member housing. Officials say the university already contributes significantly to the financial well-being of the area.

Lilith Fair, the traveling music festival that showcases female artists and that is being revived after an 11-year hiatus, will donate proceeds to three social-mission businesses, according to Bloomberg.

The 2010 tour, which opened Sunday in Calgary, will give $1 from each ticket sold to Alter Eco Fair Trade, which distributes farm products; Better World Books, which finances literacy programs through book sales; and To-Go Ware, which supports products to replace disposable food packaging and utensils. The firms will also showcase their work at an exhibition at concert venues.

Ticket buyers will be encouraged to make donations to Grameen America, the New York unit of the international microfinance organization Grameen Trust.

Facing about $200-million in debt, Harlem’s North General Hospital announced Monday that it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shut down next week, The New York Times writes.

The move comes two months after the closure of another prominent New York hospital, St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village. However, while a promised urgent-care clinic to replace St. Vincent’s has yet to materialize, North General will immediately be taken over by a government-subsidized walk-in clinic under a deal brokered by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Gov. David A. Paterson, and other leaders, according to the newspaper.

The New York City hospital system will also move a nursing home and a rehabilitation center to the North General site.

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