Red Cross targetted by thieves and vandals
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Red Cross (CIRC) is struggling to deal with a surge of break-ins at its Thrift Shop in George Town, where people are raiding donations, breaking locks and damaging the Red Cross trailer that is used for sales and collections. Officials said there were several instances over the holiday season where unknown groups of men forced entry into the storage container and stole donations. The thieves are also leaving donations strewn across the site and have even urinated and defecated around the property.
All of the incidents were recorded on the Red Cross CCTV and reported to the police. The charity said it had caught one man on CCTV filming the general area on his mobile device, raising fears that there might be an attempt to break into the shop in the near future. The latest major incident on Saturday, 7 January, resulted in two men being detained by police but officials said it has not stopped the burglars from coming back.
“In the past week there have been numerous thefts from the donation box overnight,” officials said in a release about the vandalism. “The Red Cross volunteers have to regularly clean up the aftermath of these raids, which includes donations being thrown on the parking lot floor, as well as human excrement and urine, which poses a significant health risk to the volunteers.”
As well as putting volunteers’ safety at risk, these crimes are reducing the amount of effort they can put into making sure the thrift shop is kept clean and tidy for the benefit of the community, CIRC Director Jondo Obi noted.
“It’s important to understand that many of the donations made to the shop are given free of cost to vulnerable persons in need of assistance. Stealing these donations is impairing our ability to provide items to those who need them the most,” she said.
The Red Cross Thrift Shop has become an important source of assistance for vulnerable people. The charity works closely with several government agencies and NGOs, such as the Needs Assessment Unit, Immigration Detention Centre, Cayman Border Control, Family Resource Centre, CI Crisis Centre, and CI Baby Basics, who refer their vulnerable beneficiaries to the shop. Those referred to the thrift shop have access to goods without having to pay, and last year 215 people were given items from the shop free of charge.
Because thieves are targetting the shop, from now on CIRC is asking members of the public donating to the charity not to leave donation bags outside the shop except during specific drop-off times when the store is open, as those donations may be stolen and vandalised. The Red Cross will also pick up larger donations.
In response to the increased incidents of trespass, the goal is to strengthen the security of the premises by installing enhanced security fencing and will be launching a fundraising appeal. “We are determined to ensure that our volunteers, our beneficiaries and the wider public feel safe and secure in the Thrift Shop premises,” said Obi, “We appreciate the public’s support in helping us to achieve this.”
For more information on how to support the appeal, call the communications and relationships manager at (345) 938 3317 or email rcm@redcross.org.ky.
For pick up of donations call the Thrift Shop Manager on 949-SHOP (949-7467) or 916-8954 or email shop@redcross.org.ky.
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Category: Local News
Cayman is finished. These islands are going to the dogs.
They need catching for the embarrassment factor alone. I’m guessing dirty little crackheads, and they’re completely shameless.
Razor wire and medieval traps will have strong support I think.
Utter scum.
This ain’t no crackheads they have standards the government knows exactly who this is ? The lazy police need to do their friggin jobs ! Stop and Search !
Scum produce of Mac’s status grants to scum.
Failure from our government not looking out for our youth.
This will continue and wasn’t the first time for the Red-cross. To get broken into
Can DNA be extracted from the excrement on site? Oh wait that would involve RCIPS actually doing something so a pointless question.
Well you could. But unless you had the perpetrators DNA on file it would be completely useless.
Sure, we’ll just send that to the fecal forensics team at the DNA lab we don’t have.
Sounds like a job for Dirty Harry. Remember which end of the stick he got?
Hahaha…please.
DNA can be extracted from excrement and RCIPS should get samples to show they are doing something. If CBC can give unlawful cavity searches, why can’t RCIPS put on gloves and get it off to the labs.
Great idea! Hopefully we can put a face to the faeces.
Who takes a dump in the middle of a burgulary ? OMG sick people man!!
Their motto is Stealing ain’t easy.
I ONLY do donation drop offs when the shop is open to hopefully prevent someone crawling into the bin to steal what I’ve placed in.
This is disgusting that people have shown such disrespect and disregard for the admirable and helpful functions that the Red Cross provides, as has occurred here.
Clearly the work of social inadequates. Remember, God’s watching and God doesn’t like ugly. What goes around comes around.
Let’s hope and pray there are no more repeats of this despicable kind of criminal and immature behavior.
The only means of catching them is set a trap for them.
Stealing from and vandalising a charity? How low can you get. These thugs need to be caught and made an example of.
I agree. The honorable thing to do is start your own charity and make the funds disappear like what Red Cross do worldwide.
What has happened to Cayman? Soooo sad.I hope these vandals are caught and severely punished.
If they are deported to their homeland we will all see the change. They are used to beans and rice 365 days for the year, yet this government is supplying them with catered meals.
Thieves don’t have to attack CI Red Cross Thrift Shop, they have their own on-staff. I donated all of my late brother-in-law’s clothing and items only to find out later that a RCTS employee who had a shop in Jamaica took them and sold them in her shop!
It was proven and I understand she was fired.
CNS: Most volunteers work very hard in their own time for no pay, which is to their credit and it’s more than most people do for the community. It’s really not fair to malign the rest of the staff because of one bad egg.
Upvote here for the CNS comment.
These depraved, deranged dispictable people should be treated as vile and vulgar as the droppings they leave behind. If this is how they get their satisfaction then they should be taken out of our society permanently. what goes on in someone’s head and heart to behave this way?
11:56am
That is the very reason they are kept up scrutiny in their countries.