Activist Jailed 500+ Nights for Feeding Homeless Without Permit

Keith McHenry's first night in jail came after he did something most people consider noble: feeding hungry people in a park.

On August 15, 1988, McHenry and eight volunteers were arrested at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for distributing free vegetarian meals to people experiencing homelessness. Their violation? Breaking a picnic ordinance. It was the first of nearly 100 arrests McHenry would face over the next four decades.

"Right now there's roughly over 50 cities that have actually banned or limited the distribution of free food in public," McHenry told Responsible Eating and Living. Food Not Bombs, the volunteer collective he co-founded, has become a frequent target of these restrictions.

The legal obstacles keep changing and growing. In Columbia, South Carolina, the city now requires Food Not Bombs to pay $125 every single week for a permit to share food in the same location where they've been serving meals for decades.

McHenry hasn't let the arrests, fines, or more than 500 nights behind bars stop him. He continues showing up to serve free meals to people displaced by war, political strife, and natural disasters.

The Ripple Effect

What started as a small group of volunteers in one California park has grown into a global movement. Food Not Bombs now operates in 1,000 cities around the world, with chapters varying in size and operation but united under one powerful belief: "Food is a right and not a privilege."

Each chapter runs on volunteers who cook and serve meals using food that would otherwise go to waste. They transform surplus groceries into hot meals for anyone who needs them, no questions asked. The model proves that feeding hungry people doesn't require massive budgets or government programs, just willing hands and open hearts.

McHenry's persistence shows that sometimes the most revolutionary act is simply refusing to stop caring. Nearly 40 years after that first arrest, he's still serving meals and inspiring thousands of volunteers worldwide to do the same.