DAYTONA BEACH — A Daytona Beach church food pantry shut down by the city after complaints from a nearby family will open its doors on Saturday for the first time in a year, much to the delight of the Rev. Ben Figueroa, senior pastor of Seventh Day Baptist Church.
"Oh my goodness, it just feels like fresh air and blessings from the Lord," Figueroa said. "We're very, very excited."
The pastor, who was convinced the law was on his side, knew it was just a matter of time before the pantry would again be handing out bread, canned goods, cereal, and other staples to the dozens of impoverished people who relied on the free sustenance to get enough to eat every week.
"We were sure we'd reopen," Figueroa said. "We knew from the very beginning."
A little over a week ago, the city decided to allow the small food pantry behind the downtown church to resume operations.
Last fall, the city said it was just enforcing its ban on church food pantries in redevelopment areas. Talks between the church's lawyer and the city failed to settle the dispute, and in April the church filed a lawsuit against the city seeking a declaratory judgment and an injunction.
The suit questioned the legality, constitutionality, and legitimacy of the city law that banned church food pantries in the city's five redevelopment areas. Longtime local attorney Chobee Ebbets, whose law office is next to the church on Live Oak Avenue, represented Seventh Day for free.
He maintained in the lawsuit that the city's code prohibiting food pantries in redevelopment areas was "overbroad, arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory, and selective," and was used against Seventh Day Baptist Church in a way that amounted to "an unlawful exercise of the city's police powers."
The church got help when a Texas nonprofit, First Liberty Institute, and the global law firm Sidley Austin LLP, which donates about 150,000 pro bono hours to those in need each year, filed a motion in federal court for a preliminary injunction urging the court to stop the city from blocking the church fromdistributing food.
City Hall then decided to repeal the redevelopment area pantry ban and allow the church to restart its weekly food giveaways.
"It's a big win," Ebbets said. "That sweet little church will be able to feed people again."
Church food pantry reopening Saturday
Food will be given away from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday now. People can also attend an 11 a.m. worship service inside the church on Saturday that will be followed by a free lunch and Bible study.
Figueroa is using Facebook and sending text messages to let people know about the pantry's rebirth.
"I can't wait to see their faces of joy again," he said.
The church hopes to also open on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. by the end of the year, but it will have to re-establish a steady flow of donations and line up volunteers who can run the pantry.
Demand will also dictate how often the pantry opens, Figueroa said. Before the shutdown, the pantry had been drawing more than 80 people every Wednesday.
The legal history of the pantry ban
The50-member church located around the corner from City Hallwas feeding 7,000 to 8,000 people per year with the pantry before it was shut down, Figueroa said.
The church first opened a food pantry in 2006, when it was located off Beach Street near the new Brown & Brown headquarters. When the church relocated to its current site about three and a half years ago, leaders presumed its permission from the city to run a food pantry transferred to the new location.
For more than 10 years, city code has prohibited food pantries at a place of worship in any of Daytona's five redevelopment areas because their presence can be detrimental to the difficult task of reviving a struggling area, city officials have said.
The city has made an exception for food pantries that were legally established as an accessory use prior to July 20, 2011. Commissioners approved the ban In August 2011.
Read more:Seventh Day Baptist Church of Daytona Beach sues city to get food pantry reopened
City Attorney Ben Gross has said he can't comment on the pantry matter. It's not clear if city commissioners will have to formally vote to repeal the ordinance that created the ban.
Anyone who wants to help the church with monetary or food donations can email Sdbdaytona@aol.com.
You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com
