There Goes the Neighborhood

It's not loud music in the wee hours of the morning, or an old junky car sitting in the driveway. But the neighbors in Angela Prattis' Philadelphia neighborhood have a problem with her. She distributes food to hungry neighborhood children from outside her home. Her Roman Catholic diocese provides the food, and Prattis is one of over forty people in the community who have been screened and trained to do this. She used to do it from the church property, but after she had her new baby just thought it easier to do it from her home. There is a real need for these low income kids, who receive free breakfast and lunch at school when it's in session, but also get hungry during June, July and August.

"There has been a complaint," a Chester township official reported. The first complaint ever. It's a zoning issue, and the township was ready to fine Prattis $600, until the local media got a hold of the story. Then they postponed fining her pending a meeting on August 24. She has the option of applying for a variance with no guarantee she would get it, and the cost would be $1,000. Involved in many community projects, Prattis is a busy woman who doesn't have time for this nonsense, and she is inclined to just keep on doing what she's been doing. She says there is one member of local government in particular who has it in for her, and that it's politically motivated.

Prattis, the youth director at her church, is likely familiar with the New Testament teachings supporting earthly authority. Mark 17:12 quotes Jesus as saying, "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's." So we could make a case for Prattis obeying the local ordinance. I'm not a Christian, so I would rather make a case against pettiness and meanness.

Why do we focus on the trivial (a zoning ordinance) while ignoring the elephant in the room, which is this: We live in a very rich nation where there are parents who are not able to feed their children. Then someone who does it gets all kind of flak for it.

And Angela Prattis? Well. Any neighborhood should be proud to have her.

Susan