When the organization Food Not Bombs went to Lake Eola Park on Wednesday evening they expected to be arrested for their act of kindness. Feeding the poor and homeless did not get the expected response from the City of Orlando. They were serving the food in defiance of a city law that bans large group feedings in downtown parks.
The 2006 law bans feeding groups of more than 25 people without a permit in Orlando’s downtown parks. Anti-poverty groups are only allowed to apply for a permit twice a year. Defiance of this law is punishable by 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both. Food Not Bombs was the plaintiff in an unsuccessful lawsuit challenging the law after a federal appeals court unanimously backed the law last month.
The highly publicized event was not met with the reaction that Food Not Bombs expected or wanted to get. The city sent a woman from the city’s park department with a permit for the dinner service and gave it to the group. The permit was promptly wadded up, and when the group attempted to give it back to her, she let it drop to the ground. Heather Fagan, spokeswoman for the city said that they were not in violation of the law, but continued violations would be met with arrests. She was quoted as saying “there are ways to arrested without dragging people away in handcuffs.”
Food Not Bombs is letting everyone know, that they are not backing down from the city. Other cities have started enacting laws along the same lines. It is an attempt to keep the homeless from congregating in the downtown parks. Food Not Bombs feels that the parks are where the people belong. Many of the homeless depend on these groups for their meals. Many cannot afford even the nominal fees charged by the shelters in the city. The city does not want the homeless to congregate in the parks, but they also do not want to be seen arresting veterans and others who try to help them.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-homeless-in-orlando-20110518,0,6522672.story
Source: Orlando Sentinal, “Anti-poverty group defies ban on feeding homeless in Orlando’s parks”
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