Many individuals and church groups have participated with the Friday Night Feeds under I-705 and found it to be great to bless homeless people. The Feeds have detractors as well due to fights, unlawful behavior, lack of proper security, etc. The news now is that City of Tacoma is shutting them down for the the on-going violations and lack of a permit. I had heard that the group that runs the Feed had shut it down on its own for a few weeks to try to get reorganized, but I haven’t gotten confirmation of that. I did receive the following notice from the City that all TRM teammates should be aware of:
“The City of Tacoma will be closing the Friday and Saturday night feeds under I-705 beginning Friday, February 8. This is due to disruptive behavior that has increased over the past year, with a large fight on Saturday, January 26. Also, neither feed has had a permit for over a year. On January 26, security for the Feed reported a fight involving at least eight males which escalated to over 15 persons. Security also reported that at least two of the males had guns. Nine police units responded to people running from the Feed location. The fight had begun at the Link station at S 25th and A. The victim went to the Feed and the perpetrator followed, with the fight escalating. We would appreciate you passing the word to your clients that the Friday and Saturday night feeds will not be operating. Thank you.”As always, the Mission is open every day and no one is turned away hungry. DC
