Garden Grove Panel to Address Concern Over Park Food Program

Complaints about an informal program of feeding the homeless in Pioneer Park will be considered at tonight’s meeting of the Garden Grove Community Services Commission.

The panel, which meets at 7 p.m. in the Community Meeting Center, 11300 Stanford Ave., will consider issues raised by 20 letters of concern about the program. Those writing to the city are invited to address the commission.

Since late 1986, a loosely knit group of volunteers has been feeding the homeless each Sunday at 3 p.m. at the park, which is on the south side of Chapman Avenue between Harbor Boulevard and Haster Street. Up to 300 people are fed by the group, which has no name, or church or social affiliation.

In April, Mary Hennessey, a spokeswoman for the group, asked the Garden Grove City Council to authorize putting a cover over the serving area where the homeless and indigent are fed. The council turned down the request.