A church tucked away in the idyllic beach community of Malibu, California has decided to stop providing meals to the homeless. City officials allegedly complained that the selfless acts of charity were attracting the wrong, non-condo-owning crowd.
The United Methodist Church, located in upmarket Malibu, has been offering free meals twice a week to those in need. However, according to one parishioner familiar with the dispute, city officials recently sent the church an angry email complaining that the good deeds were “increasing homelessness” in the exclusive beach community.
Apparently “stay out of Malibu” is now a warning to all deadbeats, not just the Dude from The Big Lebowski.
However, at a public hearing this week, Malibu Mayor Skylar Peak adamantly denied that the city is opposed to feeding the homeless and apologized for any miscommunication.
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While the alleged email complaint may have been unwarranted, it pales in comparison to measures taken by other American cities to dissuade their citizens from feeding the hungry. In 2014, police handed out citations and threatened to arrest two priests and a 90-year-old veteran volunteer for feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.