“The community response has already been extremely generous, so we still think we’ll be able to fill our boxes,” says spokesperson for Action Nouvelle Vie.
A Longueuil charity is hoping to replace hundreds of kilograms of meat stolen last weekend, much of which was meant to fill holiday food baskets for families in need.
Action Nouvelle Vie realized on Monday that the refrigerated trailer attached to its St-Charles St. building had been broken into over the weekend. It estimates about $10,000 worth of frozen meat was taken over the course of two nights.
“(The trailer is) barricaded, but four people who were fairly organized with tools smashed in the barricades and the locks and all that,” said Jérémie Olivier, the organization’s chief of communications. “They were on electric bikes, all four of them, with trailers attached to them and they did several trips over both nights.”
The theft was caught on tape by the organization’s security cameras, Olivier said. Longueuil police were alerted to the incident on Tuesday and the investigations division is handling the case, a spokesperson confirmed Friday.
“Steps are already underway,” the force said, adding that anyone with information related to the theft can contact Info-Azimut at 450-646-8500.
“It’s in their hands,” Olivier said, “but we know that we won’t get the meat back.”
The thieves got away with boxes of frozen chicken, beef and smoked meat, among other things, some of which the organization had on hand for the 1,000 families it serves weekly and some of which was meant to help 2,200 families in need ahead of Christmas.
“That’s our business, that’s what we do in life: help people,” Olivier said. “It’s definitely a blow, and it’s sad and shocking at the same time. But we’re rolling up our sleeves. This isn’t the first challenge we’ve faced. The community response has already been extremely generous, so we still think we’ll be able to fill our boxes.”
The group has received both monetary donations and help from people who work in the food business, Olivier said.
“It’s sad on one hand as a situation, but on the other we see the community’s heart, the generosity and people’s empathy.”
The organization has dealt with minor issues of theft in the past, “but people who come into our installations and who steal this much? It’s the first time,” Olivier said. “So it’s shocking … We’re an organization that helps people, so that’s what’s paradoxical.”
There are plans to ramp up security measures, but Olivier said the organization has limited means.
“We’re trying to find solutions to reinforce security around our building and that exterior trailer,” he said.