Giving Back Spokane charity founder Rick Clark accused of embezzlement in police complaint
Local influencer and charity founder Rick Clark has been accused of embezzlement related to his Giving Back Spokane charity in a complaint filed with Spokane police on Friday.
Police officials confirmed receipt of the complaint but declined to release it without a records request, which The Spokesman-Review has filed. The full complaint has not yet been provided.
Sarah Welliver, board president of the recently dissolved charity, announced Monday morning that the board of directors “uncovered clear evidence of financial impropriety by an individual in a leadership role.”
Welliver clarified via social media that the organization’s flagship campaigns, including Bite2Go and Back-to-School Shopping, were unaffected by the alleged embezzlement.
Welliver declined to speak with The Spokesman-Review Monday; her husband, Chauncy Welliver, indicated she could not comment on the pending investigation but confirmed Clark was the subject of the complaint. Clark could not be reached for comment, though he did post to social media Monday afternoon claiming no knowledge of any impropriety or that a complaint had been made.
“These recent allegations hit me like a ton of bricks as I am learning about them in the same manner you are,” Clark wrote. “I am trying to process it and actively be a part of helping clarify any concerns at all.”
Clark has become a local celebrity in recent years due to his charity work, beginning in 2015 after putting a call out for assistance to replace a backpack and personal items reportedly stolen from a homeless man. Within a day, Clark, who had experienced homelessness himself in the past, had reportedly received enough supplies to fill 25 backpacks, and by late 2017 told The Spokesman-Review he had donated 1,500 backpacks to area homeless people through his Giving Back Pack’s program.
In 2019, Clark’s charity work caught the eye of Mike Rowe, the host of the renowned TV show “Dirty Jobs,” and was featured on Rowe’s new charity-focused program “Returning the Favor.”
In 2020, Clark’s charity work adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by seeking donations to purchase food from shuttered restaurants to feed anyone in need through a rebranded organization called Spokane Quaranteam, raising over $160,000 by the end of the year.
The organization has since rebranded again to Giving Back Spokane, which launched several initiatives such as Bite2Go, which provided meals to students on weekends during the school year. The organization has reported revenues of $240,000-$360,000 per year over the last five years. In 2024, the organization spent over $110,000 on Bite2Go and more than $100,000 on other charitable programs, according to its tax filings.
In June, Clark announced that Giving Back Spokane would be dissolving later that month so that he could focus on his family and other charitable projects. The organizations remaining assets are set to be donated to Next Chapter, a recently formed organization dedicated to assisting homeless people.