DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A small congregation in Daytona Beach — led by Pastor Ben Figueroa — feels powerless after it was forced to shut down its food pantry.
Despite having just 50 members, the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Daytona Beach had been operating a food pantry every Wednesday to serve hundreds of people in the community. Their efforts were put on hold when the city of Daytona Beach cited a city ordinance violation and shut them down.
“It’s not because we want to shut down, it’s because we’re being shut down by the city of Daytona zoning,” Figueroa said.
Now, Figueroa and his congregation are working with attorney Chobee Ebbets to challenge the city’s decision.
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Ebbets has filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that its actions are unconstitutional. He’s representing the church pro bono.
News 6 reporter Treasure Roberts reached out to city officials, though they declined to comment on pending litigation.
The church is in a redevelopment zone: an area the city plans to improve over time. Commissioners passed an ordinance in 2012 that prohibits food pantries in those designated areas.
However, Ebbets believes the city’s enforcement is selective.
“They didn’t enforce it against a single church that I’m aware of because I’ve asked for all the records,” Ebbets said. “There’s other churches and other redevelopment zones that are continuing their food banks. So it’s what we call selective enforcement.”
Figueroa emphasized that all they want is to continue helping people in desperate need of assistance.
“They literally (begged) for us to open, and we had to cry with them because we (couldn’t) open,” Figueroa said. “We just felt powerless.”
Chobee said the church was doing a much-needed service that needs to continue.
“We want it to go back to the way it was on October the 12th before the letter came in — the final letter that made somebody in city hall go, ‘We gotta shut ‘em down,’” Figueroa said. “Nothing else.”
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