Break-in at Tacoma food bank means hungry families and no lunches for school kids
An overnight break-in at St. Leo’s Food Connection temporarily shut down Pierce County’s second largest food bank Wednesday and led to the destruction of 1,200 lunches destined for Pierce County school children.
“We help a lot of really good people and to look at their faces as they’ve been pulling up today is horrible, to know that we can’t give them anything,” said executive director Lisa Gallegos.
The unknown perpetrators stole five laptop computers, ate and damaged food.
They also left human waste on the floor of the Tacoma facility which has resulted in a biohazard situation, according to Gallegos. Until a professional cleaning service can sanitize the building, the facility is shut down.
“We’re not willing to risk the community’s health,” Gallegos said.
The 1,200 sack lunches packed by volunteers were headed for deserving K-12 children in Pierce County school districts. A typical meal consists of soup, fresh vegetables and fruit, crackers and bagels.
Other unprotected food items at St. Leo’s also will have to be disposed of, she said.
St. Leo’s serves about 500 people a day, Monday through Friday, from its location on South Yakima Avenue.
Gallegos has been speaking with other local food banks and organizations to ascertain if they can fill in the gap left by St. Leo’s.
“It’s a big task to take on 1,200 kids,” she said.
Tacoma police said there were no obvious signs of forced entry. They are investigating the crime and checking security video footage.
How to help
Monetary donations can be made at St. Leo’s Parish website and earmarked for the Food Connection.
Non-perishable food items can be left on racks outside the facility at 1323 S. Yakima Ave. in Tacoma, but Gallegos said there is no storage currently available. “We can’t take massive amounts,” she said.
Questions can be directed to Gallegos at lisag@foodconnection.org.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 1:34 PM.
