The Community Pantry, known as a refuge for poverty-stricken
residents of San Benito County, was broken into and burglarized of
about $13,000 in office equipment and a van during the Thanksgiving
holiday weekend.
The Hollister Police Department does not have any suspects for
the weekend crime, according to Capt. Bob Brooks. And they do not
know precisely when it occurred, other than sometime between Friday
evening and Monday morning, he said.
The Community Pantry, known as a refuge for poverty-stricken residents of San Benito County, was broken into and burglarized of about $13,000 in office equipment and a van during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The Hollister Police Department does not have any suspects for the weekend crime, according to Capt. Bob Brooks. And they do not know precisely when it occurred, other than sometime between Friday evening and Monday morning, he said.
Community Pantry workers said they believe it occurred after 11 a.m. Sunday – the time a volunteer finished a bread pickup, according to Tom Larkin, executive director of Community Pantry.
Community Pantry workers on Monday discovered the missing equipment – which included five computers, five printers, a copy machine, scanners and a laser jet printer for bar coding, Larkin said.
A delivery van was also missing, but was found outside an apartment building late Monday morning on Nash Road, according to Larkin. He received a call from a resident living in the building, who complained that a Community Pantry van was blocking his driveway.
Additionally, Brooks said, another Community Pantry pickup truck was vandalized with graffiti on a door in the design of a swastika – the official emblem of the Nazi party.
“We can’t figure out who or why,” Larkin said. “It would have to be somebody who had been in and out of here a few times.”
Police are in the process of canvassing the neighborhood, Brooks said, which means they are going door to door to homes and businesses seeking clues on the case. It is rare that a nonprofit is burglarized in Hollister, Brooks said.
The Community Pantry is a nonprofit organization located on Airport Drive in Hollister. The organization relies on donations and volunteers to stay afloat. Established in 1989, it serves about 680 families each week through its food program.
Larkin said they plan to continue weekly distributions to the Veterans Memorial Park, along with additional deliveries to the Senior Center and locations in San Juan Bautista and Aromas. They serve at the Vets Park from 2-4 p.m. today, Larkin said.
The organization feels “violated,” Larkin said, but the burglary will not affect its level of giving in the county.
“We’ve got to keep it up,” he said. “We feed too many people to be down, to knock us out.”
Anyone with information related to the burglary at Community Pantry should call the Hollister Police Department at 636-4330.
