THIEVES dealt a crushing blow to the charity Hop Shop in Helen Joseph Road, Glenwood, recently when they robbed the store on three consecutive nights.
According to Janice Franklin who runs the shop, along with Kim Brown and Leanne Lorrance from Likhon iThemba (the NPO that stands to benefit from sales at the charity shop), they were first made aware that things were missing when they noticed a stool was missing from outside the back of the building on Friday, 2 March.
When they went to investigate, they discovered a number of other furniture items were also missing.
“Furniture is in high demand at the Hop Shop and we had been to an auction on the Tuesday to buy new items to mark up and sell at the shop. Some of these items were among those taken,” said Kim.
She said the following two nights, thieves had been back and broken into a garage on the premises and stolen further items.
“The garage door was forced open and the thieves went through everything, taking clothing, electrical goods, and a camping table,” said Janice.
ALSO READ: Bojangles House takes shape
On the third night, the men entered through the roof, opening the garage door from the inside and loaded up furniture into their vehicle. She said two neighbouring houses had also reported their pool furniture stolen on the same night.
The women said the front window of the property had also been smashed on two occasions and jeans on display in the window had been snatched.
“We have had to get massive padlocks to secure the garage and hired a guard to keep an eye on the premises,” said Kim.
“It is so frustrating for us, as for every one thing stolen we are calculating in our minds how much money we will be short on food, formula and nappies for the children at HOLAH,” said Janice, who said the three burglaries had amounted to a loss of around R15 000.
“People are going to suffer as a result of this and it triggers such emotions in me. A lot of people rely on us. What do you say to them when you can’t help financially for the month. It is so wrong,” she said. She said volunteers worked at the shop for no salary, and she felt it was demoralising for them as well.
“It touches a nerve when we are trying to do our best in the community and there is no feeling or thought from the thieves. They know it is a charity shop, it is so sad. The worst of it is that we have pushed ourselves to go over and above the normal target, and I feel like we have now gone two steps back,” said Janice.
“We have done everything in our financial means to secure the premises as best we can. Replacing windows and getting padlocks has cost us. This is not in our budget. Crime has spiked and we have no option but to take money from what we would usually contribute to help others to up the security. It is hard,” said Kim.
She said there was a need to erect some form of electric fencing or razor wire at the premises and install a beam across the driveway, as the thieves had used a bakkie to load the stolen items.
“We are appealing to the community or a security company to help with any donations to help us secure the premises. Any help would be appreciated,” she said.
Contact Kim on 083 232 5501.
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
