More than 30 U.S. cities restricting food programs for homeless people

by Lindsay Ellis in the November 26, 2014 issue

INDOOR ONLY: Ken McEwan, a homeless veteran, poses at The Soup Kitchen, sponsored by Community Cooperative Ministries in Fort Myers, Florida. More than 30 U.S. cities have restricted or are in the process of restricting the sharing of food with the homeless. Photo by Joanne Ciccarello / The Christian Science Monitor

(The Christian Science Monitor) A 90-year-old man and two clergy received citations on November 2 after Fort Lauderdale, Florida, became the latest city to place restrictions on feeding the homeless.

Arnold Abbott, who founded Love Thy Neighbor in 1991, has been providing food to homeless people at a local beach for more than 20 years. “After I was cited, I took everybody over to a church parking lot. We did feed everybody. It wasn’t a complete waste.”

Abbott, who has been ordered to appear in court, faces a maximum of 60 days in jail.

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