By RICK GUINNESS
Herald staff

NEW BRITAIN — On the eve of a Thanksgiving taking place amid a rapidly worsening economy, there are increasing worries about food distribution in the city.

There will be a Thanksgiving dinner food distribution effort by the Spanish Speaking Center, at Good Samaritan Church, 36 North St., today from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., but center official Mary Sanders warned that, unless the governor returns money cut from the center, “this may be our last distribution.”

And a group that has been handing out food to hungry people at Central Park for several years is now being asked to pay City Hall for their efforts.

Eva Magnuszewski, a member of the city’s Common Council, said she will be at the church for the food distribution today, when she anticipates close to 300 families will show up.

“We especially need bilingual assistance for the seniors, Polish or Spanish,” she said.

A 1 p.m. press conference is planned to take place at the church to address the threat to food distribution caused by the governor cutting $100,000 from the Spanish Speaking Center, Magnuszewski said.

There will be two Thanksgiving dinners for the needy on Thursday, according to Karl Messerschmidt, of the anti-war group Food Not Bombs.

The Salvation Army, 78 Franklin Square, is expected to provide food on Thanksgiving, and St. James Missionary Baptist Church, 15 Wilcox St., will serve from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“All other pantries report being closed on Thanksgiving,” Messerschmidt said.

The complete schedule is available online at newbritainfood.org/events.

The timing is bad for Food not Bombs to be hassled by health inspectors, Magnuszewski said Tuesday, after learning that Messerschmidt has been told the group must buy a $20 permit every time it hands out free food from now on.

“Telling them they have to come up with $20 is the same as telling them to close,” said Magnuszewski, who wrote an anti-war resolution passed several months ago by the council. “They’ve been doing this for four years and nobody bothered them before. I just think it is bad timing to bother them now, given the time of year and the economic climate. It is a bunch of kids feeding hungry people.”

The trouble for Food not Bombs started two weeks ago, when member Sarah Kowalski was quoted in a newspaper report as an employee of Urban Oaks Organic Farm, a city business.

Within days, the city’s health department took an interest in the group.

Health inspector Sergio Lupo conceded it was a Nov. 11 article in The Herald that caught his attention — but only Kowalski’s mention of food giveaways at Central Park, rather than anything she said about Urban Oaks.

Lupo said the group is like any other vendor, and must get proper permits.

He said he had talked to Messerschmidt and told him as much.

“We made out a temporary food license last week,” Lupo said, “but they cannot operate without a permit from the city. Any time you serve food it has to be regulated.”

Messerschmidt said that to comply he was not only asked for money, but to be able to produce a menu of items to be given away — two weeks in advance, which is difficult for a group that gets its food largely from donations.

Messerschmidt said Food not Bombs started in San Francisco in the 1980s and spread across the country, becoming established in every major city.

A group Web site mentions that highly visible sites, such as New Britain’s Central Park, “are desirable because part of our mission is to help make the invisible homeless more visible to those better off, economically. Also, we want to reach out to everyone with our political message; and we want to be very accessible. Often people without homes gather near the government center because they are seeking assistance of one kind or another.

“Why not set up once a week outside the federal building? Over time, it is possible to grow to serving food on the street every day of the week at a different site each day,” the Web site says.

Messerschmidt would not comment on the group’s plans for Sunday.

But for today and tomorrow, however, he said he will stay in the front lines, feeding the hungry.

Rick Guinness can be reached at rguinness@newbritainherald.com.

 or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 236.