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Thieves Continually Targetting Boys and Girls Club

Jul 22, 2016 | 9:34 AM

It’s been a rough go for a Nanaimo non-profit hit hard by thefts and vandalism.

The Nanaimo Boys and Girls Club’s Fifth Street location has had eight reported thefts over the last two months alone.

That includes gas lines to vehicles being cut and siphoned gas, costing the organization money and cancelling several trips for kids due to damaged vans.

Nanaimo Boys and Girls Club area coordinator Linda Janes says it’s deflating see what’s been happening.

“A lot of vandalism to many of our vehicles, at our Fifth Street location, our Chase River location, Beban Park, Lantzville. It’s not just one location, they’ve hit every one of our locations, that’s 10 to 12 different vehicles,” said Janes.

She says the cancelled day trips are particularly tough to deal with.

“It increases your staff costs, because somebody has to deal with that on a daily basis, so you’re taking staff out of program. It affects our kids because they’re not able to do out trips, which then affects your budget because you could have paid for deposits on different places and then you’re unable to attend.”

Janes pegs the cost of the vandalism and thefts in the $10,000 to $12,000 range.

Nanaimo RCMP believe a few different people are responsible. The Nanaimo Boys and Girls Club serves up to 400 local kids.