Londoners are rallying behind the London Food Bank following a pair of devastating break-ins just four days apart.
The first incident happened late last week when someone cut through the fence at the back of the food bank's property and stole tools and plants and ruined some raised garden beds before they were chased off by a neighbour. The theft and destruction was caught on security camera.
Then late Sunday night into Monday morning, the thief returned to the food bank. In addition to causing more damage to the fence, and the door of the greenhouse, the man stole power tools from a locked shed, the wheels off of five wheelbarrows, and ruined plants. The thief also snatched the security camera.
Fresh produce grown in the greenhouse is provided to hungry families through the food bank and agencies it supplies food to come harvest time.
"In our 37 years of service, we have never experienced anything like this. It's odd," said Glen Pearson, the food bank's co-director.
Shocked by the sheer boldness of the thefts, Pearson took to social media. In his post he called the break-ins an "act of vengeance" and noted the damage done in the greenhouse will set them back "significantly." What Pearson got back was an outpouring of support and offers of assistance from the community.
"We were swamped with messages after I put it out there [on social media]. I am sure that within the first three or four hours I received 500 messages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram," said Pearson. "Many people said they felt terrible but most offered to come down and lend a hand, asking if they should donate. I was a little overwhelmed. I wasn't expecting that kind of response."
Pearson said his intention behind the post was not to use the break-ins as a mechanism for fundraising, but to encourage people to write to Luis Reyes the lead organizer of the garden - and other food bank volunteers to encourage them to keep going.
"I feel terrible for the volunteers. They lost a whole harvest over this. It will put us off by about two weeks or a month. They will have to regrow the harvest again," said Pearson. "I spoke to some of the volunteers [Tuesday] morning. They can't believe someone would break-in, but it has not deterred them. Their attitude is very much 'it's ok, we will move on, we will build again and away we go.' I love that attitude."
Pearson reported the repeated break-ins to London police and there are plans to increase security going forward.
