Break-in, stolen cash nearly crushes charity
‘This has put us in the hole,' executive director of Empower says
Margaret Hart approached the door of Take Two on Tuesday morning in St. John’s with keys in her hand, intending to open the place where she works.
But as she got closer, she stopped. The door’s glass was smashed and shards were scattered about the inside. Hart called 911 before calling the registered charity that runs the second-hand store, Empower, the Disability Resource Centre.
“Glass was all over the place,” she said at the Ropewalk Lane building later this week. “I took my time walking in because I didn’t know if there could be anyone in here.”
When the police arrived, Hart made her way through the store until she noticed the door to the back room open. Behind that door is the exit.
“They tried to get out, but they couldn’t because (outside) there wasn’t nothing but snow,” she said.
How they managed to get into the office, she’s not sure. But pointing to damage on the inside of the door, she says you can tell something was used to open it.
“I came in and that’s when the guys told me, a safe, gone,” she said. “All the money we had into it — I’m too shocked today, to be honest with you. … My anxiety was sky high, my head was exploded.”
In total, $2,500 cash and $500 worth of Gobus tickets were in the safe.
“I’m pissed,” Hart said. “I’m very pissed off right now.”
Empower executive director Kimberly Yetman Dawson says that after this latest incident at the store, she is beginning to lose her faith in humanity.
“It’s just disheartening for an organization that’s doing good work and supporting people that have disabilities,” she said.
About four years ago, with initial funding from the provincial government, the board of directors began developing a three-year plan for a social enterprise to help fund programs and supports for people with disabilities in various ways, including employment and living independently.
That is how Take Two began, and this year would be their third year open — the year they expected to break even. And they were on track, until recently.
“We’re working at a loss right now, especially because of this. This has put us in the hole,” Yetman Dawson said.
“Three years ago our office was broken into, the alarm went off and whoever was there left and the police came. We had the donation bottle stolen last year, and now this. So it’s just accelerating.”
Add this to a week of paying staff while no sales came in, due to the recent state of emergency in the city, as well as poor sales because of the time of year, and the organization is facing some difficult decisions about whether it can stay open, she says.
“It’s been hard, really hard,” she says. “We’re running on the bare minimum here.”
There is no camera footage of the incident, she says. And the alarm system that is in place, for some reason, didn’t go off.
“We really need the community’s help, to be on the lookout for anyone who has a safe or has a huge amount of money all of the sudden, or come and support the store.”
RNC spokesman Const. James Cadigan said the RNC responded to a call on Tuesday morning and arrived at Take Two shortly after 8 a.m. The investigation is ongoing and the police ask that anyone with information contact them, Cadigan said.
A frequent customer of the store is Jacinta Mackey Graham, who works in theatre. On Wednesday, a day after the break-in, she was at the shop looking for last-minute props and costumes for a production of “9 To 5 The Musical.”
“I really love this store,” she said. “I love the layout, I love that it’s clean (and) I love the staff. I find they’re extremely helpful.”
Mackey Graham said she supports the store because she knows it provides great assistance to the staff. After hearing the store had been broken into, she said it was distressing, but not surprising.
“I think it’s a sign of our times,” she said. “Sometimes these hideous acts are happening more than we want to acknowledge.”