Organizers at Critteraid’s Summerland Charity Shoppe are seeking information about the people responsible for breaking in to an enclosed area behind the store and stealing donated items.
The incident was captured on security video, and since Lori Stewart, president of Critteraid, posted the information and photos, details of the theft have been shared 14,000 times.
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Stewart said this is not the first time the charity shop has been the victim of thefts.
“Since November, we’ve been broken into seven times,” she said, adding that the nearby Summerland Healthcare Auxiliary Thrift Store has also had donated items stolen from its bins.
Stewart said the items stolen from the enclosed area were donations which were to be sold by the store to raise money for charity work. While most funds raised from the store go to the Critteraid animal sanctuary in Summerland, the shop also donates money to the South Okanagan Women In Need Society, diabetes work and other causes.
“It was despicable,” Stewart said. “They just took when they could have helped.”
The shop is run and staffed by volunteers, with 341 volunteer shifts scheduled each month.
Information about the theft has been passed on to the Summerland RCMP detachment, and an investigation is continuing.
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