Hollister
– Meals on Wheels uses its converted fleet of Chevrolet Colorado
pickup trucks to deliver up to 50 meals a day to needy and
homebound San Benito County residents.
Hollister – Meals on Wheels uses its converted fleet of Chevrolet Colorado pickup trucks to deliver up to 50 meals a day to needy and homebound San Benito County residents.
But vandals put one of the four trucks out of commission when they smashed the driver’s side window with a potted plant early Friday morning, riffling the glove compartment and leaving the truck’s door open. The Meals on Wheels delivery truck is vital to delivering hot food to those in need, said Pauline Valdivia, executive director of Jovenes de Antaño, the organization that runs the service.
“It’s demoralizing,” Valdivia said. “Especially this time of year. We’re supposed to be helping each other.”
Hollister Police Det. Rudy Rodriguez was at the Hollister Community Center to investigate the vandalized truck Friday morning.
“Apparently several of the vehicles have been vandalized at this location,” Rodriguez said. “I say by some of the property left in the vehicle it was juveniles.”
Valdivia said someone has previously vandalized the passenger buses that Jovenes de Antaño uses to transport homebound residents to receive medical attention and run errands.
“Some of them have families, some of them don’t,” Valdivia said. “They live alone.”
Some of the buses had gang signs scratched into the paint jobs, Valdivia said.
Valdivia began using secured city lots to store the vehicles overnight. Valdivia plans to approach the city with a similar arrangement for the trucks.
The trucks have special conventional ovens in their beds to keep meals warm while being delivered. Being short a truck is not just an inconvenience, it creates safety and fiscal issues for the organization as well.
“I’m just tired of this,” Valdivia said. “It costs the organization money.”
If the door has to be replaced it could cost up to $1,000, Valdivia said. The vandals stole one of the delivery drivers’ time sheets and a social security card stored in the glove compartment.
Rodriguez suggested one solution to keeping vandals at bay.
“I’d say maybe more patrol officers,” Rodriguez said.
But then he pointed to the two large street lights and the homes adjacent to the Community Center parking lot.
“It can still happen anytime, anywhere,” Rodriguez said.
But Valdivia can’t imagine the vandals’ reasoning.
“Why people do these things I don’t know,” Valdivia said. “It’s beyond me.”
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Hollister Police Department at 636-4330.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or mv*********@fr***********.com.
