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A group serving a Thanksgiving meal Sunday morning in the parking lot next to the Delta Park BottleDrop Redemption Center in North Portland say they were told to leave or face arrest.
Terrence Moses, who runs the nonprofit Friends of Ours (formerly Neighbors Helping Neighbors), along with three others, cooked a Thanksgiving spread to hand out to people near the BottleDrop at 1176 N Hayden Meadows Drive. Moses’ group served turkey, ham, corn, green beans and pumpkin pie beginning at 10 am Sunday.
But Moses says two Portland Metro Security guards arrived and told him they would call police if he didn’t pack up and leave immediately. Moses says the guards told him his group was trespassing on private property and could be arrested. Moses says the guards told him they were operating under the orders of a property manager named Marc.
Moses said he contacted Marc, who agreed that if Moses vacated the property by 12:15, the security guards wouldn’t call the cops.
At 11:30 a.m—about thirty minutes after the guards showed up—all that was left of the setup was two rickety white tents and three volunteers, including Moses. Tongs and big tinfoil platters were piled haphazardly in Moses’ Ford truck.
“The property manager called us and said, ‘You absolutely cannot be here,’” Moses said.
Moses and volunteers began piling food high onto paper plates, stabilized by tinfoil, and sending people off with teetering loads so as not to waste any of the food.
“We just piled it on,” says Kathy Armstrong, one of Moses’ neighbors who helped cook and distribute the meals. “They said they’d throw the food away if we left it.”
Marc did not respond to calls and texts from WW, but his number appears to be associated with a commercial property manager named Marc Wilkins who works for TMT Development, a major Portland landlord and owner of the shopping center at Delta Park.
Vanessa Sturgeon, the president and CEO of TMT, told WW via text message that Moses’ group failed to obtain permission for the meal distribution.
“A group set up offering food in the Lowe’s parking lot without permission,” Sturgeon said. “They were offered an alternative location adjacent to Lowe’s parking lot that was not disruptive to Lowe’s operation but declined. Additionally, they were provided with the necessary information to seek the proper permissions and declined.”
The parking lot serving the Delta Park BottleDrop has been a battlefield before between TMT Development and people who redeem cans and bottles there.
In 2021, a security guard working for TMT Development fatally shot a frequent bottle-dropper named Freddy Nelson in the lot. The security guard, Logan Gimbel, was not licensed to carry a gun, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported later that year. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.