Tripp finds a building; Spring Break for the homeless is on

Richard Tripp says God always provides.

Last week, Tripp was agitated because, he said, KSHB Channel 41 reported that his annual Spring Break for the Poor and Homeless wasn’t going to happen. Tripp and his organization, Care of Poor People Incorporated, no longer had access to the warehouse at 20th and Central where, for many years now, they’ve been putting on the giant potluck where people can come and stock up on free clothes and other supplies like soap and toothpaste. A few weeks ago, Tripp put out a call for help finding a new space.

Coming to the rescue was developer Wayne Reeder, who donated the old Trinity Lutheran Hospital parking garage at 31st and Baltimore. Pitch readers with long memories may remember David Martin’s reporting about Reeder, developer of The View condominiums (which had been known as “the Beirut Building”). We headlined our 2004 story about Reeder “He’s No Angel” — but he has been for Tripp.

Spring Break for the homeless is definitely on, from noon to 4 p.m. on April 11. Tripp still needs donations, though. According to his latest e-mail:

Most have no idea how much it costs to do an event. In the past, it has run as high as $9,000 by the time we take care of all the rental equipment and necessities such as police officers for security and transportation for our guests to and from the event, not to mention what it costs us for building permits, food that we have to buy, along with paper goods and trash bags that people [use to] carry their material goods they get at the event. Ladies and Gentlemen, while we do get a lot of the material goods donated, like used clothing and cooked food dishes, the simple fact is it takes money to make the event happen. I ask you, won’t you please send us a tax-deductible donation of as much as you can spare to help us take care of those hurting right here in our community? I would also like to make you aware of the fact that every cent donated to help those hurting in our community is used for just that purpose. No one in the COPP organization gets a salary. Also needed are new and used summer-type clothing, cooked food dishes and hygiene material.

Find out more through COPP’s Web site.