EDMONTON -- The Mayerthorpe Baptist Church Food Bank says its suffered a break-in nearly every week since the summer, and the costs are adding up.
Tammy-Lee Gilroy, who works at the food bank, says the thieves are breaking windows to get in and stealing food. In fact, after speaking to CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday, she discovered three more broken windows at the property.
The thefts have been reported to RCMP.
"It’s super disheartening, and it’s also getting scary. We’re now afraid to come in here by ourselves," she said.
Most recently, Gilroy says the thief took nearly $1,000 worth of meat, and damaged the freezer it was stored in.
For an organization that operates on about $12,000 a year, it’s a big loss.
"Last year we were $5,000 below donations from other years so take another thousand bucks and we still have to purchase that food. It’s a huge chunk."
"I still think to steal from a charity you have to be a special kind of morally bankrupt. To steal period is something outside my way of thinking, but to steal from charity is a whole other level of crazy to me," Mayerthorpe Mayor Janet Babush said on Tuesday.
For Gilroy though, the message is simple. If you need food, just ask.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Joey Slattery
