No ‘Bums’ at Benno’s

I was angered when I read your article (Sunday, May 4) about the businessmen who are trying to close down Brother Benno’s Kitchen. Mr. Steve Mares and Mr. Jim Biggie complain about “drunks” and “bums” who wander by their businesses when they have finished eating at Benno’s. Well, some of my friends and I serve at Brother Benno’s once a month and we don’t see “bums”--we see needy people who are truly grateful for the meals they receive.

These people who Mr. Mares and a few others charge are a “serious threat to our livelihoods and safety” talk and eat with us and our children as we help out there. They’ve always proven to be good-hearted people, certainly not threatening!

If these businessmen succeed in shutting Brother Benno’s down, we should all boycott their businesses. Just where do they want the people to go? Many are elderly or young children. They aren’t hurting anyone. They’re just victims of circumstance and budget cuts.

Mr. Mares said his father helped a lot of poor people. I wish he could find it in his heart to do the same. I think it’s significant to note that the majority of the businesses around Brother Benno’s Kitchen, and even the police chief, don’t feel that the patrons of Benno’s are contributing to crime in the neighborhood. They’re just coming to get a good meal (often the only food they’ll get all day) and to see Kay and Harold Kutler, two people who genuinely care about the poor and who treat them with love and respect.

The Oceanside City Council should keep Brother Benno’s open and even help out financially, if possible. You’re certainly not going to solve the problem of the homeless by hindering the efforts of people willing to help them.

SHELLEY CUNNINGHAM

Oceanside