Pacific Beach church under fire for providing meals to the homeless By Kelly Davis 12/18/2007
On Wednesdays, late in the afternoon, Darryl takes the bus from downtown San Diego to the Pacific Beach United Methodist Church where, for the past 14 years, the church has served a free meal, open to all comers. Roughly 120 people show up each week to eat, pray if they wish to and take advantage of medical, dental and acupuncture treatment provided by UC San Diego’s medical school and the Pacific School of Oriental Medicine.
Darryl, who declined to give his last name, sat alone at the empty end of one of the church hall’s huge banquet tables. In front of him sat a plate of spaghetti, salad and bread, prepared and served by volunteers from the software company Intuit; behind him, at a piano, a small crowd had gathered to sing Christmas carols.
“I like the atmosphere,” he said, reluctantly adding that some of the downtown free-meal programs he frequents attract folks who aren’t as civil as PBUMC’s patrons.
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