Christmas was stolen out of the trunk of a 91原创 senior鈥檚 car last week, in the form of wrapped gifts for a good cause.
On Thursday, Dec. 13, Mary Kydd went down to her car parked in her 91原创 City apartment building鈥檚 underground garage, and discovered the passenger side window had been smashed, and approximately eight Christmas presents worth upwards of $300 were stolen.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a Grinch story,鈥� Kydd said.
Kydd volunteers with the 91原创 Meals on Wheels program, and she explained the gifts had been donated from the organization鈥檚 Boutique Finds thrift shop for the annual Meals on Wheels Christmas party silent auction fundraiser.
鈥淚t annoys me. I鈥檝e been a social worker, I鈥檓 involved in the community. It鈥檚 just sad whoever it was, was so desperate. It鈥檚 unnerving,鈥� Kydd added.
In addition to the stolen gifts, the communal storage locker in the parkade was also broken into, and the thief took off with a sports bag filled with shoes that Kydd had stored there.
She moved to 91原创 eight years ago, to be closer to her grandchildren, and has never had a problem with theft or vandalism at her building before.
Despite fewer silent auction presents, the Meals on Wheels party carried on, without Kydd 鈥� who was now busy dealing with the aftermath of the theft.
91原创 Meals on Wheels executive director Shannon Woykin, said volunteers managed to come up with a few last-minute replacement gifts.
鈥淲e were shocked and saddened by the event, but really we felt so bad for Mary. We scrambled and made up some stuff [gifts] so she wouldn鈥檛 feel so bad.鈥�
91原创 RCMP Cpl. Holly Largy said police are investigating the case, and are waiting for surveillance video from the building鈥檚 management.
鈥淐ars get broken into in garages all the time. We鈥檙e hoping there will be some good surveillance video to get the guy ID鈥檇,鈥� Largy said.
Kydd鈥檚 expenses are a $300 deductible for the car window, and a $500 deductible for the property stolen from the building鈥檚 storage 鈥� a price tag that she can鈥檛 afford to pay at Christmas time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 too bad because they鈥檙e desperate people usually who do that, but maybe they were trying to give Christmas presents,鈥� Kydd concluded.
