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Aurora Soup Kitchen Faced With Finding New Home

By Rick Sallinger

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) --  A Catholic-run soup kitchen in Aurora may have to find a new home to fulfill the wishes of the late building owner's estate.

The key word here is "Friend." It's on the building and it's in the name of this soup kitchen. "Friends of St. Andrew."

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"Friend" was Ralph Friend who owned the furniture store across the street.

He allowed the building at East Colfax and Dallas to be used to help the needy. Some 27,000 people a year are served there.

"They can have something to eat, a friendly smile and they can return without question," one woman using the soup kitchen told CBS4.

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They also can use the location as their address or simply to borrow a book.

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But now under terms of Ralph Friend's estate it must be sold with the money to go for Regis University scholarships.

Siobhan Latimer runs the soup kitchen,

"What we would like is someone to buy it for us so we can stay here."

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She says at one time the building housed Aurora municipal services.

"At this location we have a jail cell, this is, as I said, a very historic building."

It now locks up only supplies for the poor who find this place important.

"Because there are a lot of hungry people who don't have places to live or eat," one patron said.

Some 80 volunteers give their time to make their lives a little easier. As the sign on the wall reads, "Work for the Lord does not pay much but the retirement plan is out of  this world."

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Regis University issued the following statement:

Ralph J. Friend was a friend and longtime donor to Regis University. He started a scholarship endowment for Regis students in 2014. Upon his passing, Mr. Friend's estate deeded 1525/1527 Dallas St. property in Aurora to Regis University. It was Mr. Friend's dying wish that the property would be sold and the proceeds used to expand the impact of his endowed scholarship fund for deserving Regis students.

Regis University and Queen of Peace Catholic Church both serve the people of God and both must honor the wishes of their donors. Regis has the utmost respect for the good work of the Queen of Peace hospitality center. Mr. Friend obviously valued the good work of both organizations. He permitted the building to be used for the benefit of Queen of Peace for many years, and upon his death, he wanted to use the sale of the property to fund scholarships for Regis University students who will serve the common good.

CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.

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