Arrested for helping homeless (blog 5)

  A North Carolina church group was actually threatened to be arrested just for feeding the homeless. For the past six years, this church group has set up food on Saturdays and Sunday's for the homeless to come and enjoy, until they were greeted by an officer who said that, if they attempted to distribute food, they would be aressted. They asked permission to hand out biscuits to the 70 people that were already lined up outside to be fed, and the police officers rejected this request. They had to turn all of the hungry homeless people away, and explain to them that if they handed out the food they would indeed be arrested. The Raleigh police were there to enforce the city ordinance banning the distribution of food in any of the city's parks. In order to go through with feeding the homeless, they would need to apply for a permit to use the park, which would cost $800 a day. The group is looking for private buildings or other places to continue to feed the homeless. 

  Believe it or not, on Long Island, and even in our small community of Eastport and Manorville, there are many, many homeless people, or just people in need alone, that some of us may not even know about. Since the holidays are coming around, and we recognize that people are in need, our school is participating in Stuff-A-School. We are going to fill the rotunda with food, clothes, toys, books, and more. We are also collecting prom dresses and gently used sports equipment for kids in need. In my opinion, helping the homeless should never ever be considered a crime, and the people in the church group should continue searching for places everyday so they can continue to feed the homeless once again. http://abcnews.go.com/US/nc-police-threaten-arrest-church-group-feeding-homeless/story?id=20062760