Duggar Family Stages Food Donation, Then Takes Food Back
The Duggar family of 19 Kids and Counting fame are known for their firm belief system and adherence to their religion — but when it comes to feeding the poor, it seems as though the Duggars may need to work on practicing what they preach.
On Monday afternoon, the Duggar family tweeted that they would be donating food to “families in need” at the Compassion Center in Springdale, Arkansas, which is both a thrift store and a ministry center, at 6:45 in the evening. An onlooker at the event told Radar Online that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar arrived at 7:15 — 30 minutes late — with not just their brood in tow, but an enormous production crew for their reality show as well.
It became clear very quickly that the Duggars efforts to feed the poor had more to do with getting footage than helping the hungry.
“Suddenly the parking lot was filled with large SUVs, production crew, chaos!” the eyewitness said. “Jim Bob directed every car as to where it should park.”
It didn’t take long for the producers to realize that there was no one in line to receive food. In fact, every person there, with the exception of one family, was at the Compassion Center in order to catch a glimpse of the Duggars. The producers narrowed in on the one family there to actually shop — the Martinez family — and began to vet them for the show, giving the family of four clipboards with release forms.
The Martinez family gave their permission for the crew to utilize any footage with them in it, and according to the witness, producers began to groom the family for their television appearance.
The witness claims to have overheard producers saying, “Let’s go over this… you’re really happy that the Duggars have brought you this food, you really need this for your family.”
At that point, cameras began to roll and all the Duggars, including pregnant Jessa Duggar Seewald, each grabbed a large box full of what onlookers described as “junk food” from a truck and brought them inside. But producers still weren’t happy with the shots they were getting, directing the Duggars to take the boxes back outside and bring them in again at least three times before they were happy with the shot.
Next, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar greeted the Martinez family, with Jim Bob telling a story about how, when he was growing up, his family was so poor that he cooked some rice in a jar that was supposed to be decorative.
“That was our dinner!” he told the family.
One of the Duggar sons took a box of food out to the Martinez family car — but, once the cameras were turned off, the box of food was taken back out and returned to one of the Duggar family SUVs.
What do you think? Are the Duggars more concerned with image than actual belief, or is this some misunderstanding?
[Image via Facebook]
