Charities That Provide Meals To Homeless Concerned About What Will Happen During Pope's Visit
By Kristen Johanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Each weekend charities serve meals to the homeless along the Ben Franklin Parkway, but there is a lot of uncertainty about what will happen next weekend when the Pope is here.
On Saturdays, the Chosen 300 Ministries dishes out dinner to the hungry, which they've been doing for the past 19 years.
Executive Brian Jenkins says he's concerned about what will happen next weekend.
"The whole message is about the Pope's visit has been about mercy and justice." says Jenkins. "There's been a priority on making sure that the community is served, that people can come to hear the Pope's message, but when it comes down to meals that are needed for those who are homeless and less fortunate, it's been the last on the agenda."
City officials have said they will provide food vouchers for the homeless, but the homeless have not heard a concrete plan yet.
"We need some guarantees and some certainty that vouchers are going to be available, we need to know where those vouchers are going to be attained by the homeless," says Jenkins, "so they aren't searching around, trying to find a voucher on September 26th and 27th."
He says, he's frustrated with the lack of information
"There is normally about 500 to a thousand meals that are served from outdoor meal providers, that are served over the course of a weekend, those meals are not going to be here, so we need to make sure these people have something to eat."
KYW Newsradio has reached out to the Mayor's office, but have yet to hear back.
