Salvation Army Reports $4K in Back-to-School Supplies, Food Stolen

The Salvation Army Kona Corps reported Friday, July 29, that their facility was broken into sometime in the last 24-48 hours where apparent thieves took off with $1,000 worth of back-to-school supplies for keiki in need, and $3,000 worth of food and other items.

“We’re heartbroken – we were going to be assembling our final back-to-school supplies on Saturday and distribute the protein items during our food pantry on Tuesday, and now we will have to purchase replacement supplies,” said Captain Raghel Santiago, Corps Officer for The Salvation Army Kona Corps.

The food items were meant for weekly food pantry distributions, and toiletry items taken were given to kupuna. Also, large food coolers used during Thanksgiving meal and other food distributions were taken. During the reported heist, the building suffered damage, including several broken doors and windows.

With the giveaways still planned, the Salvation Army is asking for the community to step in at the last-minute to help them fulfill their mission of helping those in need.

“We are humbly asking our community for monetary donations so we can quickly meet the needs of our keiki, kupuna, and individuals who are so in need of these items,” Santiago said. “We also ask for prayers for those who were so desperate for food and back-to-school supplies that they felt a need to take them when we would have provided them had they simply asked.”

A call into the Kona police station wasn’t immediately returned Saturday. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Monetary donations can be made at Kona.SalvationArmy.org.