Meals for homeless halted

As the sun rose over downtown Tampa on Saturday morning, dozens of homeless gathered in a city parking lot and waited for breakfast.

But for the first Saturday in six years, volunteers had nothing to offer but bad news. Tampa police shut down the feeding program last week, saying the group doesn't have a permit to serve food on public property.

"It's crappy, really crappy, coming here and telling these people that 'we can't feed you because someone who hasn't missed a meal in a lot of years says we can't feed you,' " said Doris Lutkus, part of the loosely organized group of church volunteers who have spent each Saturday morning aiding the homeless at the parking lot.

The property is at the end of Royal Street, between the Interstate 275 off ramp and the Army-Navy surplus store.

Lutkus said she and other organizers weren't aware of any complaints or problems cropping up in the six years they've been tending to the homeless.

Some members of the group said they think the shutdown is politically motivated, a part of a larger effort by the city to clean up downtown before next year's Republican National Convention.

"This has happened before," she said. "They've hustled the homeless away."

That's a claim the city has denied.

It didn't take long Saturday for the news to spread. Typically, about 100 people arrive Saturday morning for breakfast.

Ismael Diaz, one of the homeless people who has been getting his breakfast at the city lot every Saturday, was disappointed.

"We don't cause any problems," he said. "We keep the sidewalk clean."

Peter Czaplicki, who lived on the streets of downtown Tampa in the early 1990s, said he comes out now to help serve.

"I know what's it's like to be out here," he said.

Tampa police Officer Ron McMullen stopped by the parking lot Saturday to calm fears. He said the city doesn't want to keep people from feeding the homeless. He said it just can't be done on public property.

McMullen said the shutdown is a result of complaints from people in the area who say the homeless who gather to eat end up aggressively panhandling.

"I field (complaints) all day; they come in my phone, my email," McMullen said.

He told organizers the city is working to get them a new location and said The Salvation Army's cafeteria is an option.