"Love thy neighbor as thy self"???

Susie

Susie

Member
Location
Australia
Apparently not here!
Feeding the poor and the homeless in Fort Lauderdale, Florida has become a crime, since a new ordinance makes it illegal to serve food to the homeless.
Arnold Abbot, a 90-year-old volunteer, was arrested with the threat of "jail time and a fine of $U.S. 500."
Why is this kind, selfless 90-year-old being punished for being "his brother's keeper"?

http://www.news.com.au/world/yearol...uderdale-florida/story-fndir2ev-1227115338155
 

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The answer is take it indoors. Perhaps the authorities would like to sponsor something like the Exodus Foundation's Loaves and Fushes Restaurant

Loaves and Fishes

Exodus’s food and social health program began with the Loaves and Fishes free restaurant at Ashfield, and this remains the focal point and base for all the organisation’s food services. Loaves and Fishes, which is sponsored by Sydney’s 2GB-873AM Radio, is located at Exodus headquarters at 180 Liverpool Road Ashfield.

The restaurant begins serving breakfast at 9am every day, and provides a healthy and nutritious morning meal for around 250 guests from the local and surrounding areas.

The main meal – a hot lunch – is served between 11.30am and 12:45pm, seven days a week.
Lunch is provided for an average of 300 guests per day, many of whom arrive by foot, train or bus from other parts of Sydney.

With their immediate food needs met, guests can access other forms of support, through Exodus’s Social Health and Wellbeing services, and social and welfare services offered by Exodus’ partners


Exodus provides up to 1000 meals per day, or 350,000 meals per year to homeless and struggling Australians
Volunteers and employees at two sites, the Loaves and Fishes restaurant in Ashfield and the Exodus night van in the city – together serving around 13,000 guests per month

The Loaves and Fishes restaurant in Ashfield serves around 600+ nutritious, free breakfast and lunch meals to the homeless and disadvantaged every single day

Hot evening dinners are distributed by the Exodus food van to between 150-200 people every night near St Mary’s Cathedral in the heart of Sydney’s CBD

Those who visit the sites can seek help and advice from Exodus’ Social Health and Wellbeing programs, and further support from the Foundation partners
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Exodus not only feeds people, it has expanded services to provide dentistry to improve their chances of getting a job and to provide a service to children who are falling behind at school because of poor reading skills. By working on their literacy levels they hope to avoid these children falling into poverty as adults.

The poor and homeless need practical help, as well as food when they are hungry.
 

Susie said:
Why is this kind, selfless 90-year-old being punished for being "his brother's keeper"?
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Apparently because he insists on breaking the law, this being his second time in a week.

There's also another factor to consider here - he represents a religious organization. There might be a question of their non-profit status being jeopardized by serving food in public. Don't know if that applies here or not but it's a possibility.

They might also not be meeting health and public safety laws in the way the food is prepared. Again, just a possibility.
 
SeaBreeze said:
He has to go by the city/county rules and regulations like everyone else...http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...d-under-fort-lauderdale-strict-rules-against/
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Feeding Sites?
I thought this expression was only used for 'animals'! I'm really annoyed by the frequent use of this disrespectful expression.
Thank you, SeaBreeze, for providing insight into the situation with the detailed report and added comments.
Was surprised by so many comments and really heartened by some of the charitable attitudes.
If you've been hungry, surviving on grass and water, you will do anything for food!
Only if you've never experienced acute hunger, could you be so cold and callous, even vicious, towards "starving Americans"!
 
I've never even heard that expression before reading it in the article. I'm not cold, callous or vicious toward starving Americans, but in every city there are rules for reasons, as SifuPhil mentioned like health and safety.

You can't go to a public city park and set up tables to feed people obviously. If outdoors, you must also provide toilet facilities. They are only stopping the charitable operation taking place in the city streets on city park property.

Here are the reasons they gave, and this regulation was voted on and passed by the citizens in the city. Arnold Abbott said he was there specifically to challenge the city regulation, and expected the police to respond.

Mayor Jack Seiler said he thinks Abbott and pastors Dwayne Black and Mark Sims have good intentions, but the city can't discriminate in enforcing the law.

He said it was passed to ensure that public places are open to everyone. He also stressed that the city was working with local charities to help serve the homeless through indoor feedings and programs that get them medical care and long-term help.

"The parks have just been overrun and were inaccessible to locals and businesses," Seiler said
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If I were the 90-year-old Arnold Abbot, I would stop volunteer work 'feeding the hungry' immediately; especially after a remark by Ron Park, chairman -Dade County Homeless Trust, stating: "Feeding people in the streets is sanctioning homelessness.
Whatever discourages feeding people in the streets is a positive thing."
 
Feeding the homeless can be a tough call..........and I was homeless years ago, but for a very short time. I lived/slept in my vehicle in a church parking, along with some others. We were fed a breakfast and dinner, but it was inside a church building. The whole thing was completely legal.

If a person complies with local laws concerning feeding the homeless, then there should be no problems. Don't comply and that's where the trouble starts...........no matter what age a person is who's doing the feeding.

Bottom line is, follow the laws!
 
SeaBreeze said:
He has to go by the city/county rules and regulations like everyone else...http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...d-under-fort-lauderdale-strict-rules-against/
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But what if the real reason the city has banned the activity because they want to make life so miserable there for homeless people that they figure this might help starve them out and force them to leave the area. Instead of compassionately working to solve the problem, they're trying to push it to another jurisdiction.

Similar situation happened in Abbotsford, BC a couple years ago when the city council brought in truckloads of chicken manure and dumped it in areas where homeless people were 'camping'.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...-using-manure-to-drive-out-homeless-1.1325025

Remember, any one of us could wind up homeless. A good percentage of these people never chose to be homeless but like they say 'sh** happens' and suddenly they had nowhere to go. What would any of us do in that situation and how grateful would we be for a bowl of soup from some kind person?
 
Fort Lauderdale is just the latest of a number of cities with such regulations. Fort Lauderdale is also a city with a large tourist trade. Feeding a bunch of people on a public beach is not a good way to attract tourists.

As has been said follow the law just as everyone else is expected. This is all about getting attention and has little to do with feeding the homeless.
 
rkunsaw said:
Fort Lauderdale is just the latest of a number of cities with such regulations. Fort Lauderdale is also a city with a large tourist trade. Feeding a bunch of people on a public beach is not a good way to attract tourists.

As has been said follow the law just as everyone else is expected. This is all about getting attention and has little to do with feeding the homeless.
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Maybe one reason this man is trying to get attention is because the city isn't doing enough to help the homeless and he figures that just fading away will leave a very bad 'status quo' situation that is intolerable for the people who need help. Do you think that's a possibility?

Sometimes it takes civil disobedience to 'make things right'.
 
Besides... the rich folks in Fort Lauderdale don't want to see the riffraff... it upsets them.. Not enough to do anything for them... just enough to want them out of there.

Just one question.. When Jesus fed the masses... was he required to do it inside? lol!!
 
I am one of those fools that hands a dollar to the guy or lady on the street corner holding out a sign begging for food or a donation. I figure that I am probably either feeding a drug or alcohol problem, helping him make his payment on his Mercedes, or maybe just once in awhile, I may be buying the person a hamburger at McDonalds. If I don't have a dollar bill with me, then I drive past.
 
The same thing happened to "The Deuce" - NYC's Times Square.

Back in the bad ol' '70's and early '80's Times Square was the center of the Evil Empire in NYC. Sex shops, drug deals, prostitution and every type of crime you could imagine were all there, in abundance.

Then Disney came to town. 13 acres were grabbed by the State, loans were made, skyscrapers went up and suddenly everything was gingerbread and unicorns.

But where did all the low-life go? They seemed to have just disappeared, swallowed up by the city, relocated to new hunting grounds. They didn't just go away - they just shifted their base of operations.

They didn't eliminate them - they just moved them.
 
QuickSilver said:
Besides... the rich folks in Fort Lauderdale don't want to see the riffraff... it upsets them.. Not enough to do anything for them... just enough to want them out of there.

Just one question.. When Jesus fed the masses... was he required to do it inside? lol!!
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The poor are always unsightly. Without any hope of participating in society, why bother with keeping up appearances?
Besides food, we all need hope. The outreach feeding program is the first step in restoring dignity but much more is needed.
I'd like to hear what the city authorities are doing for the homeless. Shelter? Programs? Subsidies to charities?

If none or little of the above then I don't care if Mr Abbott is breaking their laws because he is just attempting to fill a gap.
 
I will say this again......I have no problem with someone feeding the homeless as long as it's done legally!!
It's true that businesses don't want to see the homeless hanging around, and for good reasons. The way they look, smell and where they go potty at. And then, there are the homeless that want to stay homeless.......YES, stay homeless! They want the free food, but, for some, they don't want any help. There have been documented stories about homeless people that relatives wanted to help and the relatives were flatly turned down by the homeless person.
 
ClassicRockr said:
I will say this again......I have no problem with someone feeding the homeless as long as it's done legally!!
It's true that businesses don't want to see the homeless hanging around, and for good reasons. The way they look, smell and where they go potty at. And then, there are the homeless that want to stay homeless.......YES, stay homeless! They want the free food, but, for some, they don't want any help. There have been documented stories about homeless people that relatives wanted to help and the relatives were flatly turned down by the homeless person.
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So sad to read, ClassicRockr, that some people want to stay homeless, and that their presence is "bad for business"!
Here's a very detailed, lengthy overview of homelessness in the U.S., some sections open to further questions and discussion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States
 
The homeless are not an organized group. They are individuals, each with their own circumstances. You can not always identify the "poor" by sight. When you come across a person who looks hungry, offer to take them inside a fast food joint and buy them lunch. You'd be surprised how easy that is. Another good way is to find and support a local food bank. Be generous.
 
ClassicRockr said:
Yes, sad, but VERY TRUE.....some want to stay homeless.
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Many of these homeless are mentally ill. They are the people turned out in the streets when the funding was eliminated for State facilities across the country. Many are paranoid schizophrenics who don't trust anyone or anything. Of course they are not going to trust someone wanting to put them in someplace.
 
Susie said:
Feeding Sites?
I thought this expression was only used for 'animals'! I'm really annoyed by the frequent use of this disrespectful expression.
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"Feeding Sites" is the expression of their own choosing to use, it is used throughout their website...so I wouldn't be too annoyed with it if I were you, or you can contact their charity and share your thoughts about their use of the term. http://lovethyneighbor.org/calendar/#action=ai1ec_month
 
ClassicRockr said:
I will say this again......I have no problem with someone feeding the homeless as long as it's done legally!!
It's true that businesses don't want to see the homeless hanging around, and for good reasons. The way they look, smell and where they go potty at. And then, there are the homeless that want to stay homeless.......YES, stay homeless! They want the free food, but, for some, they don't want any help. There have been documented stories about homeless people that relatives wanted to help and the relatives were flatly turned down by the homeless person.
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I agree completely Rockr. And there are homeless people who want to stay that way, or they can go to shelters that are available which provide housing, food, medical care and more.

Some of the homeless want to use alcohol or drugs, and that is not allowed in these facilities, so they prefer to live on the streets where they can do what they want. Relatives and friends that offer to share their homes with the homeless, usually have rules too about drug or alcohol use during their stay.

Here are just some of the shelters that these folks can go to. http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/cgi-bin/id/city.cgi?city=Fort Lauderdale&state=FL

I agree that feeding the homeless is a wonderful thing, but do it within the law.
 

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