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Ryan Photo Op at Soup Kitchen Not OK
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A staged visit by Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Mahoning County soup kitchen downtown -- during which he washed dishes, reportedly some of which were already clean -- was criticized Monday by the society’s president, who says the organization’s bylaws require it to be apolitical.
The appearance at the soup kitchen by Ryan, his family and campaign staff followed a town hall-style event Saturday morning at Youngstown State University, where Ryan spoke on behalf of the GOP presidential ticket headed by Mitt Romney.
After the scheduled event, Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, and his family visited the soup kitchen where they met with volunteers, and he “volunteered his family’s services to scrub some pots and pans,” according to a pool report issued by the campaign.
But the candidate's visit came long after the kitchen ceased serving food that morning and cleanup was already completed. The campaign took “five or six pictures” of the Ryans washing already-clean pans, hung out for about 10 minutes and left, said Brian Antal, president of the local chapter of the society. The society provides hot meals to the needy at its soup kitchen and packages of food through its pantry.
Antal said the campaign did not contact him directly regarding the visit, and the volunteer who let Ryan and his party in assumed the campaign had obtained permissionfrom Antal. Antal does not blame the volunteers for not being fully aware of the society’s bylaws, he explained. But had he been asked for permission, it would have been denied.
“When you have an organization funded by private organizations you can’t show [political] allegiance,” he said.
Antal said he spoke with Mark Munroe, Mahoning County Republican Party chairman, who said he had no control over what the presidential campaigns do when they come into the area but apologized anyway.
“It’s bad enough they didn’t get permission. Just to ramrod through some volunteers, it’s just not right,” Antal remarked. “It doesn’t matter to me if they’re Democrats, Republicans or Tea Party: We’re not affiliated with anyone. It’s in our bylaws.”
The episode has gone “almost viral,” he noted.
Indeed, the episode was reported by several national news organizations, including the Washington Post (READ STORY), CBS News, MSNBC and the Huffington Post.
"Our campaign and Congressman [Paul] Ryan was pleased to bring attention to the meaningful charitable contributions St. Vincent de Paul Society makes to people in need," a Romney-Ryan campaign spokesman, Chris Maloney, responded in an email Monday evening.
That need is great, Antal acknowledges -- and growing. During its most recent fiscal year that ended in September, the soup kitchen served 98,000 meals, an increase of about 10% from the prior fiscal year, and the pantry provided more than 10,000 people with food boxes. Demand for St. Vincent De Paul Society’s services has been rising at between 6% and 10% annually in recent years, he said.
Antal was working on signs Monday to post at both locations to advise volunteers that such activities can’t be permitted. “Again, being an organization that is solely funded on donations, our organization has to be very cognizant of who we do and don’t offend,” he said.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.