Richard Tripp needs a warehouse to feed poor people for a day

Richard Tripp is having a bad run of luck.

Tripp, as some of you may know, runs an organization called Care of Poor People. Twice a year, around Thanksgiving and Easter, with the help of tons of volunteers, he puts on an enormous potluck dinner and lays out tables and tables of donated clothes and toiletries. Sometimes a band plays. It’s a party, and lots of poor people walk away with some much-needed supplies.

At the end of January, though, Tripp, who drives a cab for a living, was beaten up by a couple of fares he picked up at a casino.

Now his bruises have healed, but he has an even bigger problem: He can’t use the warehouse at 20th and Central that’s been Spring Break for the Homeless location for the last several years. He has just over a month to find a new building with a big empty space somewhere around the Crossroads. Otherwise, he fears, he’ll disappoint a couple thousand people who have come to depend on him.

Tripp says he’s called around but hasn’t been able to find a building for the April 11 event. He needs about 15,000 square feet, he says, though he can make do with less if he has to.

Tripp sounded pretty blue when I talked to him today. “I can’t let these people down,” he said.

If anyone can help, let me know or contact Tripp through his Web site.