VP nominee JD Vance to dissolve last vestige of mothballed charity, give its $11K to Appalachia

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance is preparing to dissolve the vestiges of a charitable effort he launched in Ohio after publication of his best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” his campaign said.

Vance formed two like-named nonprofits starting in 2016 to address problems in Ohio and other “Rust Belt” states. They were primarily supposed to focus on boosting job opportunities, improving mental health treatment and combatting the opioid crisis. The original organization folded within five years and Vance put the other on hold when he ran successfully for the Senate in 2022.

He faced criticism during the race over how little the groups accomplished. Despite Vance’s stated intentions to identify and produce national solutions to those problems, the nonprofits’ only notable achievement was paying to send an addiction specialist to southern Ohio for a year who had questioned the well-documented role of prescription painkillers in the national opioid crisis. Vance has acknowledged that the groups’ efforts fell far short of his aspirations.

One of the groups — a foundation — filed paperwork in April reinstating the corporate status it had allowed to expire in 2022.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Vance and Walz agree to a vice presidential debate on Oct. 1 hosted by CBS News </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> The Latest: Harris begins policy rollout; material from Trump campaign