PORT ANGELES — After an estimated ton of the Salvation Army’s supplies for feeding those in need disappeared, other food banks, a church, individuals and a financial institution have responded to provide what was lost.
On Wednesday, First Federal capped a week of donations from all over the North Olympic Peninsula with a $3,000 check.
Levon Mathews, president and CEO of First Federal, based in Port Angeles, gave the check to Maj. Dana Johnson, commander of the Port Angeles Salvation Army, to help replace what was stolen in the Oct. 12 burglary.
“This should bring the Salvation Army back to even,” Mathews said.
“We appreciate it all,” Johnson said.
Salvation Army workers said about two-thirds of its canned and dry goods stockpiled for holiday food distributions and soup kitchen meals for some 1,200 families and individuals was taken.
They estimated then that 2,000 pounds of food was stolen, though Wednesday, workers and the Port Angeles police said it is not clear how much food was missing.
“It’s possible what was taken was 2,000 pounds, but in the report, it was far less,” Port Angeles Deputy Chief Brian Smith said.
Volunteers that morning found that a large padlock had been cut from a large storage trailer parked behind the offices at 206 S. Peabody St. in Port Angeles, and boxes of canned food and other dry-good items were missing.
Since the theft, food banks from Port Townsend and Brinnon donated 1,500 pounds from their own stores, a church group in Seattle is expected to arrive with a truckload of food this morning, and people have been walking in with whatever they can afford to donate, Johnson said.
The community response is an unexpected upside to the theft, which has boosted public awareness of the needs of the hungry, Johnson said.
Ernest Rider, the Salvation Army’s food bank operations coordinator, isn’t sure exactly what was taken.
There were a few pallets that were nearly wiped out; those contained such foodstuffs as canned stew, applesauce, fresh onions and potatoes.
But the thieves also took a box here and a box there, which is more difficult to tally, Rider said.
Rider said the organization hadn’t done an inventory before the theft, so most of what is missing is a mystery.
He said the estimate of 2,000 pounds of food missing was a guess.
The Port Angeles police report included only what Rider could prove was missing, Smith said.
On Wednesday, Rider was taking a full inventory. He said he intends to keep better records in the future.
There are no suspects at this time, Smith said, and no motive has been identified for the crime.
Johnson and Rider speculated that those who took the food either intended to resell it for alcohol or drugs or were simply in need.
Even before the theft, the bank’s supplies were running low, said Associate Pastor Cherilee Ramsey.
The food bank’s greatest needs right now are canned stew, pasta, peanut butter, cranberries, yams and pumpkin filling, Johnson said.
Canned stew is included in every bag the food bank distributes, he said.
The charity also will have better security in the future, Johnson said.
There have been three thefts from that food locker in the past year.
An anonymous donor is providing a locking system for the trailer similar to that used in logging camps, Johnson said.
It will be a lot tougher to get through than the off-the shelf padlocks that are currently being used, he said.
The Salvation Army offers a free hot lunch from noon to 1 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Its food bank is open from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays.
For more information or to donate, phone 360-452-7679.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
