An advocate for the homeless plans to protest how a free Thanksgiving meal was organized by Without Walls church.
By BRADY DENNIS
Published December 17, 2003
On Thanksgiving Day, rather than bite the hand that had offered to feed them, dozens of homeless, disabled and mentally ill people in St. Petersburg passed up the free grub altogether.
Their gripe: They said they had been promised a 9 a.m. meal at Carrabba's, a well-known Italian grill, on Fourth Street N.
But upon learning that a traditional Thanksgiving meal would be brought in from Tampa, and that Carrabba's had simply provided space to eat, group members decided to spend their holiday elsewhere.
"We'd been promised Carrabba's (food), so we didn't go," said Steve Kersker, 53, a longtime homeless advocate, who said he would have brought along 140 needy people. "It's not that we're ungrateful. It's just that it was bait-and-switch. It isn't right."
They were passing up a good meal. The food that day was prepared by the Palm, a top-dollar, valet-parking Tampa restaurant that prides itself on steak, lobster and other entrees that start above $20.
In any case, the incident has snowballed into a planned Sunday morning protest outside Without Walls International Church in Tampa.
The incentive for protest began on Thanksgiving Day when, their Carrabba's hopes shattered, several of the boycotters accompanied Kersker to a Starbucks in St. Petersburg for coffee and rolls instead.
Kersker said they felt disrespected by officials at Without Walls, which had organized the meal. He said church officials never said they would offer a traditional meal rather than food from the Carrabba's menu.
Had the homeless and mentally ill folks with Kersker known that, he said, they never would have considered showing up so early in the morning.
"That's not a special dinner. That's the usual Thanksgiving dinner we get," Kersker said. "There are other places in St. Petersburg that serve (a similar) meal in the afternoon. We didn't want to have a Thanksgiving breakfast."
Church officials regard the reaction as an unwarranted slap in the face.
"This is crazy," said Pastor Robert Fruster, who was at the restaurant that day. "(Kersker) says he felt he was misled, but there was nothing misleading about it. I just don't understand what his problem was."
Kersker said he and several others asked for a meeting with head pastor Randy White, but were told White's schedule was booked for the next year. A church spokeswoman said Tuesday that Kersker's assertion about the schedule was "simply not true."
After an e-mail in which Fruster wrote that "for someone to complain about (the meal) means to me that they must not be hungry," Kersker organized a protest.
Kersker plans to hire two charter buses from St. Petersburg on Sunday morning, load them with the homeless and mentally ill, and bring the picket line to Without Wall's front doorstep. All over the Carrabba's food that wasn't.
* * *
Fruster, sounding dumbfounded at the complaints, said the church had never promised food from Carrabba's menu. No matter where the meal came from, he said, it was an act of charity.
"Carrabba's came on board late, and they could only give us the facility," Fruster said, adding, "The Palm is just as nice as Carrabba's."
He said the church fed about 1,000 homeless, disabled or otherwise needy people on Thanksgiving. Many were served at Wright's Gourmet House or Donatello, restaurants on Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.
Both places faced overcrowding, Fruster said, so some people where bused from Tampa to the Carrabba's. A church bus also picked up other homeless people in St. Petersburg and brought them to the restaurant.
Fruster said all the restaurants involved gave purely out of charity, and those who came for food were appreciative.
"You're talking about 1,000 people being fed, and (only a few) complaining," Fruster said. "(Kersker) never even came down to find out."
What's more, the church had handed out thousands of turkeys the weekend before Thanksgiving, said Jennifer Mallan, a church spokeswoman. She said neither she nor White had heard of the dustup before Tuesday.
"That's such a silly thing to protest," Mallan said. "If he wanted the shirt off our back, he could have it. It just hurts when you're trying to do the right thing (and someone complains)."
Mallan also said that Kersker and others certainly could meet with White, and if someone told them differently, it wasn't true.
"He's always available to speak or meet; he's the pastor," she said. "All this gentleman had to do is go through his office to get an appointment."
In the meantime, Fruster fears that the complaints will scare donors from chipping in next Thanksgiving. He said Kersker is hurting his own cause.
"He just wants the attention," Fruster said. "What he's doing is going to hinder our chances for (future donations). It'll have a negative effect on the people who actually sponsored that meal.
"It's very counterproductive."
Still, he said he has no concerns about Sunday's protest.
"It's not going to bother us at all," said Fruster, who said church members will be handing out 30,000 toys to needy families. "You can never please everyone. So we go on."
* * *
Kersker is no stranger to protest.
Over the years, he has organized countless demonstrations to push for more local homeless shelters. He has taken homeless people caroling in St. Petersburg, singing lyrics such as, "I've got no home for Christmas. I've got no place to go."
He has protested outside Tropicana Field, accusing the city of trying to rid downtown of "bums, hobos (and) freaks" before the Devil Rays began playing.
He has talked to Gov. Jeb Bush and Rep. C.W. Bill Young about getting attention for hepatitis C, which he said he contracted last year.
He has crossed the bay in a luxury bus full of 50 homeless people to protest the way Metropolitan Ministries spends its money.
Kersker himself has battled mental illness for years. He abused drugs until about 1987. He spent time in a mental health hospital. He credits religion and a drug treatment program for giving him a new life. He says he is married to God.
And that, he said, is really the heart of Sunday's protest. He cites White, who owns a Bayshore Boulevard mansion and a handful of luxury cars, among other assets.
Kersker said a pastor so wealthy, and a church so rich, should follow through by buying homeless folks the meal he says they were promised.
His goal?
"The least we'd like is an apology from Randy and a Carrabba's dinner," he said. "We would love the apology and the dinner."
- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report, which used information from Times archives.
