For more than a decade, Father Bob Caudill has done one simple thing every day in Oakland Park: feed people who are hungry.

Twice a day, at All Saints Catholic Mission, dozens of homeless men and women gather for a warm meal, clean clothes, showers, and a moment of dignity. For many, this small church is the only place they are treated with kindness and respect.

Yet since 2016, the City of Oakland Park has fined Father Bob $125 every single day for operating this soup kitchen under zoning rules adopted in 2014. Those fines have now grown to roughly $500,000.

Community members shouldn't be punished for feeding the hungry, they should be supported. 

We respectfully call on the Oakland Park City Commission and City Manager to immediately halt enforcement actions against All Saints Catholic Mission, erase the accumulated fines, and work in good faith toward a permanent solution that allows Father Bob to continue serving meals legally and safely.

Compassion and common sense can coexist. Oakland Park can support redevelopment without driving out a ministry that has served its neighbors for decades.

Father Bob has said he will not stop feeding the poor. The question now is whether the city will choose punishment—or partnership.

Sign this petition to urge Oakland Park’s leaders to stand for both community growth and community care by ending the fines and protecting this vital soup kitchen.

Photo: Carl Juste/Miami Herald