A local group who feeds hundreds of homeless people every week, is facing an uphill battle.
The Bakersfield Burrito Project has been handing out burritos to the homeless at Weill Park every weekend for the past three years.
But, now the city is telling them they have to stop.
The Bakersfield Burrito Project has one goal... to help people one burrito at a time. But, that has come to a screeching halt.
The project wanted to do a special Thanksgiving burrito feed at the recently fixed up Central Park, so they tried to get a permit.
"They said that our event is a public event since we are putting out press releases and inviting the public. So, the permitting that we needed to get was a $1,000 for the event as well as obtaining a million dollars for insurance," said Jason Rickett, Burrito Project.
Jason Rickett says those costs are enough to feed 4,000 people.
17 News talked to the Parks and Recreation Department. We were told the rules are laid out in the city code. If you want to have a public gathering like feeding the homeless, you need to follow certain rules and have certain permits.
"We do have city ordinances that allow non-profits to do it occasionally, but not on a regular basis and not in a public park. They need to be a non-profit group and have insurance. Usually a non-profit group has insurance," said Dianne Hoover, Director of Bakersfield Parks and Recreation.
But, The Burrito Project does not have non-profit status.
And, all of that plus permit fees and deposits will run the group hundreds of dollars at least.
But, The Burrito Project says it would rather use that money to feed more homeless people.
Another hurdle for The Burrito Project is the Health Department.
Permits are required to hand out food. But, the Health Department says the permits are free to non-profit organizations.
And, the county says it is more than willing to work with these organizations.
