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90-Year Old To Be Honored For Work With The Homeless

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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- The South Florida man who has made headlines for standing up to the city of Fort Lauderdale's new Laws restricting the feeding of the homeless is set to be honored.

The National Coalition for the Homeless called 90-year old Arnold Abbott a role model for his work with the homeless.

The group said Abbott is the perfect recipient of the organization's Advocate Of The Year Award which he will receive in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, Abbott held his weekly feeding in Fort Lauderdale as he has for more than a decade.

Abbott has been cited three times by the city of Fort Lauderdale for violating its new city ordinance restricting homeless feedings indoors where there are bathrooms and the food can be heated.

Abbott said he plans to take his message of love and equality to the nations' capital for the organization's annual gathering for homeless advocacy.

"I plan to get a message across that this democracy is more a hipocracy than democracy with the homeless as the people who they want to sweep under the rug," said Abbott. "And I want to get them from under that rug and give them equal rights as everybody else. That's my mission."

Abbott said he won the right to feed in Fort Lauderdale years ago in a court case and he recently asked a judge to enforce that.

The judge ordered mediation between Abbott and the city.

The mediation could begin next week.

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