Pastor David Rodriguez said the church has apologized to Women
Helping Women for the
”
confusion
”
Friday night causing the group to move the donations aside.
HOLLISTER
Organizers of a boutique event to raise funds for Emmaus House reported to authorities over the weekend that more than $1,000 in donated items set aside at the First Presbyterian Church on Friday night were missing the next morning. The church, however, stepped up and announced Monday that it would take responsibility for the items and reimburse the group for the apparent theft.
Women Helping Women organizers had been setting up Friday for today’s 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. holiday sale to benefit the local shelter for battered women and children. But they agreed to move aside their things to a nearby kitchen – a church representative later showed up and requested it – when a bridal shower group arrived for a Friday night gathering and alerted fundraiser organizers that the church double booked the facility.
Rodriguez said the church since then had apologized to Women Helping Women organizers for the “confusion” Friday night causing them to move their donations aside.
“We’re sorry that there was a double booking – it was our fault,” said the Rev. David Rodriguez, the church pastor who had been involved heavily with Emmaus House’s origins here several years back.
Rodriguez said he had been awaiting an itemized list of missing items from Women Helping Women and that First Presbyterian Church would write a check to the group for that amount, initially estimated at more than $1,000.
Rodriguez also said church leaders are unclear what happened to the missing items and that they would await a response from the sheriff’s office. An event organizer noted that sheriff’s deputies came out to investigate Saturday and found no break-in. A sheriff’s office watch commander didn’t return a message left Saturday, and other office leaders were unavailable for comment before press time Monday.
When boutique organizers arrived Saturday morning at the church building, 2066 San Benito St., they found that many donated items for the boutique sale were missing totaling more than $1,000 – such purses, jewelry, home accessories, cookware, cooking supplies, a restored Anne Geddes doll, specialty T-shirts, cosmetic and spa products, a face-painting kit, a gift basket, a trinket box and a decorative vas – among about $2,000 in items left there overnight.
Those donations came in from many local businesses. Event founder and organizer Kathy Kessler noted, for instance, how Ace Hardware had donated “really nice” pots and pans that ended up missing.
“We’re doing a really good job out here raising awareness of domestic violence against women and the aftereffect as well on children,” Kessler said.
Rodriguez agreed.
“We’re glad that Women Helping Women has done such a great job to help Emmaus House and we’re looking forward to working with them in the future,” Rodriguez said.
Organizers had a goal of raising $5,000 from the fundraiser and expected to finish with around $3,000 – excluding the church’s reimbursement, Kessler said.
“Considering these hard times, I was so surprised by the number of people who donated to our benefit,” she said.
Anyone wishing to donate to Emmaus House can mail checks to Emmaus House, P.O. Box 1761, Hollister, 95024.
