Pixy Stix Preacher Leaves Landlords Hanging

By DAVID MARTIN

Carva White, an ex-convict who has relied on candy-hawking children to support his itinerant ministry, is being sued by two landlords and the city of Kansas City, Missouri.

The Pitch documented White’s activities in a 2006 feature story about the churches and charities that solicit donations by pestering motorists at stoplights. The story described how White’s sons and other children waded into busy intersections, trading candy for donations to their church. While White is indeed a preacher, he’s also a convicted felon. In 2001, he reported to the federal pen in Leavenworth after pleading guilty to a count of bank fraud.

White maintained his innocence in an interview. But court records suggest that his life is one cheat after another.

In January 2007, a landlord evicted White from a house off Swope Parkway after failing to receive $2,350 in rent. In May, a different landlord took White to court and won a $900 judgment.

In December, the city sued White for $970 for unpaid water services. Records indicate that the city has been unable to serve White with a summons to appear in court.

I went looking for White at a storefront church on Troost, where he was preaching when he and I last spoke in 2006. But when the service ended on Sunday, White did not emerge from the building in one of his magnificent suits.