Florida Couple Fined $746 for Crime of Feeding Homeless People

[eridani]

Last edited Wed May 14, 2014, 07:05 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1012492/pg1

After feeding the hungry in a Daytona Beach park every weekend for more than a year, it’s just as easy to imagine Chico and Debbie Jimenez given a ticker-tape parade as what they actually got: a slew of citations and a permanent ban from the park.

Chico and Debbie Jimenez, a husband and wife team, aren’t handing out food in the Florida heat every Wednesday because of a court order or for a paycheck. They do it because they believe helping the poor is their religious duty. The pair run a Christian outreach group, Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word Ministry, that gives food to the needy every week, pointing to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Every Wednesday, the Jimenezes feed more than a hundred people a hearty lunch with dishes of chicken patties, macaroni salad, and fresh vegetables, among others. The meals are entirely funded by private donations and staffed with volunteers.

However, Daytona Beach is one of a handful of cities that enacted ordinances barring individuals from serving food in public. Last week, nearly a half-dozen police officers showed up at Manatee Island Park, where a long line of people had queued to get a meal, and served citations to the Jimenezes and volunteers

[shenmue]

1. :(

[otherone]

4. sad

[Stuart G]

13. Yes, very sad.

[ColesCountyDem]

2. I don't 'get' this, on a very visceral level.

I live in an 'economically-challenged' area, and the local Ministerial Alliance operates a 'brown bag lunch' program in four locations around town during the summer. The brown-bag lunch contains enough food for one adult for both lunch and supper. Both the community AND the police are very supportive of the program. The vast majority of people here have a "there but for the grace of God go I" attitude regarding this program.

Why does it always seem to be wealthier communities that have a problem with charitable individuals and organizations feeding poor people?

[Possumpoint]

5. Money Gives Perceived Power

They don't want to encourage the poor people staying in the area. By denying them free food they feel they'll go somewhere else and the blight will be removed.

[thesquanderer]

7. It's actually kind of understandable

It is common that you can't serve food to the public without getting some kind of permission. There are issues of accountability and responsibility, being able to track problems, etc. You probably would not want someone to be able to open a restaurant or start a food cart without some kind of assurance. Whether the food is distributed free or for money, whether it is for rich or poor, doesn't make a difference. Through accident or even malevolence, people can get sick. You would arguably want to know that the people distributing the food have been made aware that they are required to maintain certain cleanliness protocols, keep track of where the food came from, etc.; and that if problems arise, there is some protocol in place to attempt to deal with them.

I doubt an ordinance like this would affect your local Ministerial Alliance - it sounds like it's about individuals doing this on their own, not groups who coordinate an effort and may well require some kind of permit designed to help assure that they follow certain procedures about the handling of food, tracking where it comes from, etc.

[PeoViejo]

9. One doesn't get Rich feeding the Poor

One gets Rich by being an Assh0le.

Wealthy communities have a disproportionate number of Assh0les.

The 'Bible' has a lot to say about Rich Assh0les.

[abelenkpe]

11. Because some wealthy people are jerks who don't want

Poor people in their neighborhood?

[classykaren]

3. Our local police department does this themselves in their parking lot every Saturday.

[leftyohiolib]

6. sue florida on the basis of religious freedom that seems to be something the right understands

[Sanity Claws]

10. What a great idea!

I want someone to use that argument and see what happens.
At least it should be used as a defense when people are prosecuted under this ordinance.

[Niceguy1]

8. feeding homless people isnt a crime

Serving food without the proper permits is in most places....for health and sanitary reasons

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. And yet hundreds of people throw barbecues in parks in the public every weekend without

huge outbreaks of illness...

Yes, they have made feeding the homeless a crime when feeding Little Suzy BirthdayGirl and her friends isn't a crime.

[Niceguy1]

14. feeding family or closed groups

Isnt the public, in public is okay

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. It's exactly the same. I attended a barbecue just last weekend in a public park

I did not know the host of the event (in fact, I would hedge a guess that most of the homeless people in this discussion know their benefactors a heck of a lot better than I knew my host). No one was charged with a crime. Yes, they have made it a crime.

[Niceguy1]

16. someone had to invite you

To the bbq, unless you just crashed it.