Autism Okanagan home looted just months after it was donated to the charity - BERITAJA

Just months aft celebrating a awesome donation,  Autism Okanagan is reeling aft a devastating incident.

“A gut punch,” is really Tammy Gilmour, the organization’s co-president, describes it.

Back successful November, the kindness received the gift of a location from the Hall Family Foundation, to beryllium utilized arsenic it’s first-ever imperishable location.

“We are successful the process of turning it into our ‘Home for Belonging,’ an inclusive abstraction for group pinch neurodivergencies,” Phillips said.

But complete the weekend, thieves collapsed into the Lombardy Square location and looted it.

“It was a existent emotion of violation,” said Christy Phillips, Autism Okanagan’s executive director. “They didn’t moreover return the things that you would expect.

“You would expect them to return things that were of value, but they took our soap and our towels and our bedding and our cutlery and mugs and glasses.”

Phillips said the culprits moreover took toilet paper.

It happened sometime overnight Sunday.

“They drilled 2 holes done the model casing and they were capable to unfastened the model and climb through,” Gilmour said, describing really the suspects sewage in.

To apical it each off, those responsible near an obscene connection connected the room chalkboard.

“I can’t moreover show you really that felt to travel successful and publication that location were profanities near connected a invited sign,” Gilmour said.

The hurtful words person near the statement questioning whether the enactment was targeted.

“We’ve been connected the news. We had a motion connected the extracurricular of the writer about what our intentions were for the house, truthful you really dream that that has thing to do pinch the truth that we were robbed,” Gilmour said. “That’s what we hope.”

Kelowna RCMP told BERITAJA they person been made alert but are hoping for much accusation from the nationalist to beforehand an investigation.

“Who would do this to a charity, right? That’s what you want to know. Who would do this,” Gilmour said.  “There were tears.”

Autism Okanagan is now facing a costly task of replacing the stolen necessities arsenic it useful towards officially opening the abstraction successful the fall.

“We’re starting from scratch,” Gilmour said.

Despite the break-in, the statement is still hoping to officially reopen this fall.

“Every dollar that we now person to walk replacing the things that were surgery and damaged…replacing the things that were taken, that comes consecutive retired of our programming, truthful it’s a nonaccomplishment to our participants and each the families we serve,” Phillips said.

Autism Okanagan is besides now looking into beefing up its security.

“We’re decidedly going to request a information strategy of immoderate sort,” Phillips said. “So for anyone retired location who could thief america pinch that, we would perfectly emotion to perceive from you.”

If you would for illustration to thief the statement switch stolen items, a database could beryllium recovered connected the Autism Okanagan website.