Charitable Group Offers to Pay Your Fines if You Ignore Philly’s New Ban on Feeding the Homeless
- Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:04pm by
Becket Adams
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Philadelphia’s new law banning “all outdoor feedings of large numbers of people on City parkland” goes into effect Friday, according CBS Philly, and some charitable groups have elected to ignore it.
“I encourage every church, every organization, every individual that has been serving on the Parkway to continue serving on the Parkway, despite this law that is going into effect,” said Altressa Boatwright, operations manager for Chosen 300, a charitable organization which has proudly served Philadelphia’s homeless community for years with “outdoor feedings.”
But why would the city pass a ban on charitable giving?
According to proponents of the bill, including Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, the new law will “protect the dignity of the homeless, cleanliness of the parks, and eliminate food health concerns.” However, dozens of opponents of the law testified at a hearing on Thursday and said the reasoning behind the ban was bunko.
“These regulations are clearly designated not with the intent of protecting the health and dignity of the homeless, but are designed to tuck the homeless in a corner and pretend that the problem does not exist in our city,” Reverend Brian Jenkins of Chosen 300 Ministries said.
The group has established a fund to help anyone fined for breaking the “outdoor feeding” ban, philly.com reports.
“The people are the number one resources of this city, not the Barnes Museum,” said Philadelphia homeless advocate Erike Younge. “Feeding people and serving the needs of the people is a fundamental right. And to ban it or to oppose it and not to work to solve this problem is unconstitutional and inhumane.”
Meanwhile, a group of students from The Mathematics Civics and Sciences Charter School said at the hearing that they raise about $500 to $1000 each week for food and toiletries for the homeless near Ben Franklin Parkway.
“The food we distribute is prepared in our school cafeteria in the same manner and under the same conditions as the food that is served to the students,” said Gregory Dooley.
Image courtesy Bloomberg
“It is clear to me that the reason that the Mayor has implemented this new directive is that he does not like the way large groups of homeless people and the public looks to visitors and more affluent residents.”
According to CBS Philly, the ban applies to the Fairmount Park system, “which includes Love Park and the Ben Franklin Parkway.”
No one from the Nutter administration attended Thursday’s hearing.
David Shivel, who volunteers handing out doughnuts and coffee, says “he is willing to go to jail for feeding the homeless,” adding that city officials need to understand they alone cannot help the city’s homeless, philly.com reports.
“You need us,” Shivel said. “You may not know that, but you need us.”
Front page photo source: Emma Lee/for NewsWorks
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Comments (78)
Passerby
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:15pmNow this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant,
overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 16:49
24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah —from the Lord
out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain,
destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.
…28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the
plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
Genesis 19
He who has ears, had better listen.
Report Post »strewth_cobber
Posted on June 4, 2012 at 1:54amHebrews
13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for there some have entertained angels unawares.
13:6 So that we may boldly say, The LORD is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Report Post »Hippieclones
Posted on June 6, 2012 at 4:42pmI am not religious due to my wittnessing so many ugly acting christians, always judging others, never themselves. These comments change my mind a lil, I don’t see the Catholics giving anything ever to the needy, the church is a fat cat, but it’s PEOPLE go without always I am sick of mean people!! Mostly republicans, they take the govt. money for their Special Interests, Billions of tax payer money,none of which came from them. They take govt. money & buy Ferraris, gold toilets but not one dollar do they pay in taxes! They prefer to pay atty. to help them cheat us, then they cry “entitlements” are the problem. No the problem is them, pocketing our tax dollars, making themselves very rich while preaching to us “Austerity”…They need to be taken down, prosecuted for the fraud games they continue to run on the American people. Their billions belongs to us, they stole it and when someone exposes them, their thrown under the jail. i.e. Julian Assange, he has exposed them & look what they are doing to him, & any other Journalist willing to tell the truth re. govt.
Report Post »Tigress1
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 6:41pmThey are worried about food health concerns????? Gosh, it can’t be any worse than if they were rummaging around in trash cans for food! I bet the homeless don‘t care if they don’t have an inspector’s grade.
Report Post »rickc34
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 5:56pmAgreed these people have been subjected to eatting scraps from trash can’s and now they want to deny them a decent meal? Sounds very evil to me. BOYCOTT PHILLY. This treatment is not what the Bible teach’s regarding the homeless. These organizations are not asking for goverment help they are doing out of love. A concept the mayor does not understand. I also wonder if this mayor goes to church why would they even let him in the door until he repents for thisevil wwhat does this kind of person want the homeless to die from food poisening?
Report Post »OccupyActivist
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 4:05pmI would feed them no matter who told me not too. It would be worth going to jail for being a humanitarian. Your Gov. And mayor should be ashamed of themselves to stop a necessary kindness. In Virginia they grow vegetables in vacant lots in the city and make the soup form them…This is community gardens and it is cleaning up the neighborhoods and feeding many ..
Report Post »possom
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 6:20pmObama’s world suuuuuuuccccckkkkkksssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »ctec67
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 7:12pmWell said!
Report Post »OccupyActivist
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 4:01pmWhat ? do you believe that Obama is responsible for this? LOL NO !! you are wrong, it took the Republicans decades to make out country into the economic disaster it has become. It will take another 2 democratic terms to get us out.. MAYBE!! You must be a republican taking advantage of a situation..Hmmm This was not caused by Obama but by Bush and those before him.
Report Post »undercover
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 5:01pmCivil disobedience is always justified when it’s in the course of obeying a higher law. It‘s time for like minded believers to do what’s right and damn the consequences.
Report Post »Wolf
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 6:18pmTrue- but if the ‘church’ hadn’t dropped the ball in the first place, we wouldn’t be having these kind of problems. Instead, we let our ‘charity’ slide under state/fed control, now they‘re telling us what we should be doing with our ’charity’.
Report Post »And it’s the needy who suffer.
Wolfgang the Gray
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 6:49pmWolf, it isn‘t totally the church’s fault. The modern society is banning God everywhere you look (I constantly see articles about Atheists getting religious icons pulled down) and the number of church members is decreasing because many of the young are choosing the secular life. The decreasing church members cannot be expected to saddle a greater number of homeless. For 200 years, we were “One nation, under God”, but that is changing. I’m not saying the government needs to step in and become the pantry of the homeless, but ALL Americans, religious or not, need to realize that our fellow citizens are on hard times. Charity of Americans has long been one of our best and most exceptional traits. We need to restore that. Of course, when our leaders are pushing for socialism and show no record of giving to help the needy, they sure don’t set a good example.
Report Post »Shasta
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:31pmNo different than OBonzo wanting to remove the charitable donation tax deduction. 1) He believes government knows better how to distribute this money. 2) He wants people to be dependant on big government, rather than a society where brother helps brother
Report Post »PROSECUTE_PUBLIC_SERVANTS__FOR_CONSTITUTIONAL_TREASON
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:28pmSkirting The Law Is tit for tat. Throw The Lawmakers Out. Demand Change.
Report Post »RAGEAGAINSTTHEMACHINE
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:35pmI
Report Post »RAGEAGAINSTTHEMACHINE
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:41pmMeant to say I love your avatar pic :)
Report Post »YourVoiceMatters
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:26pmWhich mandate is the the greater …?
Love your neighbor as yourself or
Thou shalt not feed the homeless on the streets!
Wasn’t Philly at one time called the “city of brotherly love” ? What do you suppose they meant by that all those years ago? That you might be your brother’s keeper?
Nutter take out your stoney hEARt and put on a hEARt of flesh…at least be human and humane to those you are entrusted to care about~your constituents! Or do homeless even count as human to you? In this instance i am wondering if it is in your perview… to be humane apparently it’s out of the question!
I hope the good people of Philidelphia vote out this heartless bunch, Nutter incl. and if they wind up on the street perchance they will appreciate so much more the brotherly love that helps those unfortunate enough to be without and on the street (in this day under obama there are more than a few where-ever you go in the country!
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:23pmFaith may be lost in sight; Hope ends in fruition; but Charity extends beyond the grave…
Report Post »DAJ
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:21pmAnother stupid law passed just to get in the way of good charitable people.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:19pmYou cannot Fis… Stupid nor Evil!
Report Post »momrules
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:16pmGood for these God Blessed people who are willing to say I Will Not Comply to a government mandate that is against everything God teaches.
We all need to Stand Up and be counted as the country is more and more taken over by the socialist hoardes.
If I choose to feed the homeless I will. If I choose to pray in public I will. If I choose to stand up as an American with God given rights I will.
Report Post »Vickie Dhaene
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:35pmI will not comply. Excellent reply. Join your local 9/12 Group. We will effect good back into our communities.
Report Post »Jase
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:28amYes!
Props to Chosen 300 and all the other ministies around the world that do what is right in God’s eyes rather than obeying a ridiculous law.
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:10pmFeeding people and serving the needs of the people is a fundamental right. This is not a fundamental right. Our Constitution spells out our rights. Feeding people and serving the needs of the people is a fundamental precept of individual charitable giving. To deny access to charitable giving is wrong.
Report Post »Excomunicatedmarine
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:59pmA nation which turns away from God is doomed. HAVE WE NOT TURNED AWAY FROM GOD ?
Have we not started to see the loss of His blessings? Do we not continue to turn away ?
Think about it…..God out of the schools, out of the Gov. Out of marriage, ….and we brag about it.
Yet we ask when catastrophe happens “Where Was God? “. Right where we wanted Him to be…… Out of our culture.
Report Post »Vickie Dhaene
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:38pmThose of us that have not turned away, but have moved closer to God will be saved. Those who do not will perish in hell for eternity.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:42pmThe word G o v e r n …..M e n t …….“We The People”. Therefore, the word government should be called “We The People”..Why? Government cannot function without “We The People Taxpayer Monies”. The current admins start-up line starts with “Let Us Be Perfectly Clear”….Well, taxpayer’s should have a start-up line: “We are going to make this perfectly clear” you are NOTHING without our vote & taxpayer money. When are Americans going to stand up and say ENOUGH!!! Nov.2K12?
Report Post »johnjamison
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:55pmThe people governing Philly are monsters who would see the homeless starve because to attempt to get more tourism. Here‘s clue nutter it ain’t the 50 year old homeless guy making your city unappealing it’s roaming gangs of young black thugs that rob rape and kill on every corner.
Report Post »duckduckgrayduck
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:37pmBans like this might result in Face Eating. http://www.duckduckgrayduck.com
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:33pmNutter the Great has Spoken… LET THEM STARVE
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:26pmThe left’s “war on homeless”!!!! My goodness, start playing their game and continue to call them “out”! I am fed up with the BS tactics of these Nazi/Maoists! War on Homeless…
Remember, God calls us to HELP those less fortunate. Go into the city and tell them the truth … God will take care of the rest.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:32pmI do expect the Left to blame the Republicans for this somehow in the very near future. This is the most absurd thing that I have heard since it all started. Back to that Socialist/Communist control the food theory to kill off the undesirables is already going into effect. They won’t kill off the the producers right yet, but the unnecessary eaters for now. I do wonder where this will lead.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:35pmCessna – so indeed we are all called on to help those in need, the widowed and the poor and homeless, the orphaned and such. For the progressives, this is one more means of establishing control over more people, step by step bringing us all into the clutches of an all powerful Federal government.
They work constantly on step by step gains in power on the local, city, county and state levels while dealing the same trips for power on the federal level. Insidious and deadly, yet fatal to our freedoms all the same.
Report Post »MAMMY_NUNN
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:38pmBy paying the fine you are giving in a better tactic would be setup selfserve.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:26pmGovernment wants to do away with charitable organizations altogether and have the people dependent on government,homeless people for now and the rest of us when the system collapses and the depression hits hard.
This is the best way to control the populace and any Marxist will tell you that capitalism must first be destroyed to achieve 100% of the population dependent on government.Remember everyone will be made equal ,equally poor and the government will ensure it.
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:07pmDictators ride to and fro on tigers from which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.
WINSTON CHURCHILL, While England Slept…
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:22pmWhy doesn’t the mayor just close the park and move the homeless away from the area and open a kitchen where he moves them. That would help both tourism and the homeless, even businesses.
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:22pmBeing that it is public property I am not sure if the ban is unconstitutional,but it sure is inhumane.To Hell with dignity,I would want food! This is the kind of Charity we need.Not the kind where Government STEALS your money,throws it into a Bureaucracy where some one making $100,000 a year decides how many Electric cars to buy before the homeless get some rice and peanut butter sandwich.Providing they kill a baby first and hand out condoms.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:21pmThere you go~~~ GOD’s “kids” working to help. GOD BLESS each and every one of you.
Report Post »Personalforrest
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:19pmUs humans have allowed non-human humans to rule and own us and shuffel us around or throw us out like property instead of treating us like humans and allowing us to be human.
Report Post »jungle J
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:14pmprogressives want the churches to teach their flock to break the law..give unto ceasar what is ceasar’s
Report Post »VanceUppercut
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:24pm@jungle J
They want churches to tell there flock to act in Christian manner and help “the least among you”. I know, it’s tough to be a Christian when a lot of the stuff Jesus preached is what you would call Socialism.
Report Post »Tractorboy
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:35pmJungle-J,
Report Post »I would rather break man‘s law than God’s law.
RJJinGadsden
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:44pmVANCEUPPERCUT, Jesus preached Socialism? I believe he preached that the people be charitable, something that most on the left are not. Just look at there tax returns. You guys are great at filtering tax funds through the federal bureaucracy that give mere pennies to the so called needy from the many dollars collected from the tax payer. What a way to run interference for BS reasons.
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:26pmI Do Not remember anywhere in the Bible Where Jesus stole people’s money at the point of a sword to give to some one else.Vance must have a different bible than I have,
Report Post »Kathleen
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:12pmThat’s right. The Government can’t have people thinking they can spread the wealth and resources on their own. ALL charity must come from the Government alone. This is the start people. Expose them as much as possible for the evil that they are.
Report Post »TSUNAMI-22
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:07pmWhy doesn’t the charitable group just feed the homeless and eliminate the middle man?
Report Post »deeberj
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:14pmWhatever…that’s not the point of this article. Mayor Nutter isn’t letting people feed teh homeless en masse anymore.
I live 40 minutes from Phila and I’m going to give money towards this once I check out the organizations. I think this is AWFUL what they are doing with the homeless. There are too many in Phila and they don‘t want them dirtying up center city because it’s bad for business for tourists coming to see America’s first capital.
Report Post »IDConservative55
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:17pmDid you even read the article? The law makes it agains the law for ANYONE to feed the homeless and there is no middle man. Why ANY politician would stop charitable giving tthat helps those in need is betond my inagination. I hopw some day the mayor finds he is HOMELESS and then the law prevents HIM from getting a hot meal.LET THE MAYOR DUMPSTER DIVE!
Report Post »TSUNAMI-22
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 3:56pmWhat part of banning “all outdoor feedings of large numbers of people on City parkland” do I misunderstand?
Maybe the charitable organization can solicit a school or a church to provide “insidedness” to help get these homeless taken care of. The homeless get the charity and the law doesn’t get broken.
Where’s the Catholic church in all of this? Oh, that’s right….they’ve been taken over by the Marxists that have shoved the responsibility away from themselves more and more over the years and have deflected (the social burden) to the government.
Pretty soon we’ll all be homeless anyway, so I guess the whole argument is pointless.
Report Post »Bryan B
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 4:32pm@TSUNAMI-22
“Why doesn’t the charitable group just feed the homeless and eliminate the middle man?”
Their are more in need, then their are people giving. Because everyone is hurting financially, few are able to give. The Church’s that feed the needy are running out of food and having a difficult time keeping up with the demand. The middle class were, the largest group that gave to Church’s and organizations that help the poor and needy, but most middle class people and families are helping their own extended families the best they can and cann’t give.
I can tell you for a fact, that most rich people do not give to the poor and needy. I live in one of the wealthiest countys in Florida, yet we have one of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the state.
The only thing rich people do is Bitch and Complain about the homeless people and families living in their cars or the homeless shelters and food banks being to close to their neighborhoods. But they don’t lift one finger to help.
The only real way for this problem to be solved, is getting Americans back to work. But untill then if you are able to help these Church’s and organizations please do. No child should ever go to bed hungry, and no mother and father should ever worry about feeding their child or children, especially when we have people that can do something about it…..
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