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David Unwin / Things
Paul Palmerston North Society of St. Vincent President Mike Keenan looks through the food left over from a weekend robbery.
Thousands of dollars in food destined for underprivileged families during the Christmas holidays have been stolen from a Palmerston North church.
The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Broadway Ave was raided over the weekend, when thieves ransacked the food bank run by the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.
The president of the Palmerston North society, Mike Keenan, discovered the theft at 9 a.m. Sunday, when he went to find Raro for the children to drink after mass.
Keenan saw that the door to the food bank was ajar, with the lights on, and thought a volunteer was busy packing a food package.
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David Unwin / Things
Thousands of dollars in food destined for underprivileged families were removed from the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit over the weekend.
Keenan’s heart skipped a beat the moment he stepped through the door and saw food scattered on the floor.
“It was a huge disaster. The food had been thrown everywhere and thrown when the bugles took what they wanted.
“Two panels were removed from one of the windows, which must have been the way they entered.”
Keenan said the robbery happened sometime after midnight Saturday, after the last volunteer left that weekend.
It was difficult to know how much food was eaten, because the food bank did not keep detailed ledgers.
At least $ 1,200 in donations was missing than the volunteers could remember, but it would probably be more, he said.
Among the stolen food were 10 of the 15 packages of Christmas baskets for which the children of St James Catholic School held a food drive.
Keenan said the thieves had mainly targeted sweets, such as cookies, chocolate and jam, and took all the coffee from the food bank.
Most of the food the thieves tossed aside was in cans and packages.
“It’s disappointing … It’s about 20 families that we would normally help over the next few months that we won’t be able to deliver food packages to.”
Keenan said that although the food bank was quietly placed, security would be seriously tightened after the robbery.
He expected the thieves to return the looted donations, though Keenan thought his own needs had to be bad for them to be able to rob a church.
“But they didn’t need to go to this extreme. They could have called us and we would have given them food, no questions asked. “
Sergeant Major Darren Paki said police wanted to hear from anyone who might know what happened.
“The theft of these donations means less to these families in what is already a difficult time of year for them.”
Anyone with information about the theft can call the police at 105 and quote file number 201129/3944.
Murray Wilson / Stuff
The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Broadway Ave was raided over the weekend, and thieves took donated food for underprivileged families.
