PORT ANGELES — The Grinch showed up three months early Wednesday when someone broke into a storage trailer and stole a ton of food meant for holiday food baskets and soup kitchen supplies.
Two-thirds of the food the Salvation Army had stockpiled for holiday food distributions and soup kitchen meals was taken overnight from a trailer parked behind the offices at 206 S. Peabody St. in Port Angeles, said Cherilee Ramsey, a Salvation Army associate pastor.
Volunteers discovered the lock had been cut from the unit early Wednesday morning, she said.
“It puts a dent in our ability to help people,” Ramsey said.
“This is a big loss for us.”
A report of the theft had not been filed with the Port Angeles Police Department as of Wednesday afternoon.
Ramsey said she had thought a volunteer had reported it while he had thought she had; she said she would talk with police today.
“We will be making contact tomorrow,” Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said Wednesday.
The food taken included about 2,000 pounds of canned food, spaghetti, onions, potatoes and other dietary staples, Ramsey said.
“The timing is the worst,” she said.
More food is needed to replace what was taken.
October and early November are lean times for food kitchens, and the next major food drive is still six weeks away, she said.
This is the third time there has been a food theft from Salvation Army offices in Port Angeles within the past year.
The first theft was a year ago and the second six months ago, but this theft is by far the largest, Ramsey said.
After earlier break-ins, police told Salvation Army leaders that there were too many people going in and out of the building to establish a suspect, she said.
The Salvation Army provides food for about 1,200 families or individuals each month.
The theft means there won’t be enough to distribute to those in need, Ramsey said.
Cash donations will be used to replace what was lost, and donations from neighborhood or workplace food drives are always accepted, she said.
Food to replace that which was taken can be donated at the Salvation Army offices at 206 S. Peabody St.
For more information, phone 360-452-7679.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
