Happy (Temporary) News for Hungry Homeless in Daytona Beach: Fines Dropped Against Couple Feeding Them
I blogged last week about Daytona Beach hitting the generous couple Debbie and Chico Jimenez and some of their associates with over two thousand bucks in fines for the crime of feeding the homeless in a public park.
Happier news out of Florida today, via NBC News: the fines have been dropped!
However, this is just the calm before a likely storm, as the couple, obdurate in their sin, still have the wickedness in their hearts compelling them to feed the homeless in a place easy to get to them, the public park.
And they swear they are going to continue to do it. Which could mean more trouble:
The couple was warned, they said, that if they re-launch their Wednesday food-sharing sessions at Manatee Island Park in Daytona Beach, they will again face criminal charges—and more.
"It's jail time if we get caught," said Chico Jimenez, 60, a retired construction manager who, with his wife, a retired auto parts store manager, operates a New Smyrna Beach-based ministry called "Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word." Since receiving the citations, the couple has been lugging boxes of food to impoverished families who have homes, and to people living in camps in wooded areas within the community, they said.
The Jimenezes told NBC that they will apply for a permit, which they expect will be denied, and that they then will sue the city for violating their civil rights.