By JENNIFER LIN
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Inside a
century-old bank at 39th Street and Lancaster Avenue in the Mantua
section of West Philadelphia, a pair of carpenters cuts wooden beams for
a loft in the big open space.
The workers are volunteers
from a church in Boyertown, Montgomery County, who have given up their
day to help Brian Jenkins convert the site into a 150-person dining hall
to serve free meals to anyone who is poor and hungry.
It will be the third indoor meal center in the region for his nonprofit, Chosen 300 Ministries, and it comes at a critical time.
Over the summer, advocates
for the homeless were locked in a standoff with the city over a ban on
serving free meals on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Mayor Nutter supported the
move, but groups such as Chosen 300 fought back in federal court,
arguing that the ban violated their religious rights. They called the
move politically motivated and tied to the May opening of the $150
million Barnes Foundation on the Parkway.
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