Volunteers at a food pantry in Spanish Lake are heartbroken after they were targeted by thieves yet again and this time it was their work van that was stolen.
Police tell 5 On Your Side the Helping Hands Food Pantry had their work van stolen nearly three weeks ago in the 1100 block of Trampe Avenue. It is believed the theft happened overnight on Oct. 13 or 14.
"I came down and saw the empty parking lot and it was just a wow," said Ed Meyer, director of Helping Hands Food Pantry.
Meyer was devastated after he learned their van was stolen.
"Because I just can't imagine someone stooping that low to steal something that was in here helping the community," he said.
The van was a 2001 gray Ford Econoline. It was an older van, but after the food pantry put more than 2,000 dollars into it, Meyer said it was “running like a new truck.”
Helping Hands Food Pantry serves 40 to 50 families in Spanish Lake's poorest areas. Thousands of families over the years have come to the pantry to get food, toiletries and other household items.
"There is no other pantry of any size that is anywhere near here,” Meyer said. “So, we are basically the basis for their food for a lot of people."
The van was used to go to places like the St. Louis Foodbank to pick up food to put on the shelves of the pantry. Fortunately, that will continue because a local church gave them a van to use temporarily. After that, Meyer said they don’t know what to do if they can’t buy another one in time. If they don’t have a van, it means the pantry can’t serve families in need.
"It would shut us down if we didn't have the van to transport," Meyer said.
But, unfortunately, the food pantry has been in this position before. In a three-month span last year, the food pantry was burglarized six different times
"I do not understand people,” said Julie Griffith, a volunteer at the food pantry. “Their mindset that they steal from the ones that are doing the good for the community."
The string of thefts forced them to take extra precautions in securing the building. But with the latest incident, Meyer is just left saying not again.
"We are here to help people and when someone take it from us, we don’t have it for the people who really need it,” he said.
Meyer said a pickup truck that belonged to the farm next door also was stolen from the same lot. He said the truck was recovered, but there is no word right now on where the van is.
The incident is under investigation.
