Tacoma food bank falls victim to break-ins

TACOMA, Wash. — St. Leo Food Connection is a lifeline for thousands of families in Pierce County. But this week, the Tacoma food bank became the target of criminals. Twice.

On Tuesday, the food bank had one of their vans stolen. Surveillance video captured a pick-up truck pull up beside the van, break in, and then drive away in it.

The very next night, criminals targeted the food bank again. They vandalized another van, making it undriveable.  In two days, St. Leo’s fleet of four trucks was cut in half.

The trucks are used for picking up donations for the food bank, as well as to make home deliveries for people in need.

“It’s just unfortunate that you would do that to a program who is about helping people,” says Dawn Whitman, the director at St. Leo Food Connection. She started as a volunteer at St. Leo in 1988.

She believes the city’s current food crisis is the worst she’s seen it.

“Our numbers are up. Every day we’re serving 250 to 300 families. It just seems like every day it’s a little bit more,” says Whitman.

On Friday, the food bank displayed several empty shelves. Whitman says they were forced to cancel some of their donation pickups, because of what happened this week.

Whitman worries that the actions of these criminals mean some Tacoma families will go without food this weekend. She says they are now racing to buy and repair their two trucks. But that too, comes at a cost.

“That’s going to be a huge chunk out of our budget that would be for food purchasing. Again, impacting the amount of food that we have to distribute,” says Whitman.

She asks that the community step up and help St. Leo. She tells KIRO 7 that they are always in need of volunteers or monetary donations. They also are seeking people with trucks to volunteer their time to help staff pick up deliveries.

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