Rogue River, Ore. — An organization focused on helping the community is looking for a little help of its own. A thief hit one of the organization’s developments. Now, Habitat for Humanity is asking you to keep an eye out for a special gate.
The gate was created for a soon-to-be playground in between two Habitat for Humanity houses in the process of being built. The gate was created by a volunteer, and while the organization said it’s a really nice gate – volunteers don’t understand why anyone would steal it.
“I kind of looked and something was missing and the gate was gone,” Dan Thomas said, Habitat for Humanity Rogue Valley.
The gate was discovered missing Wednesday morning from a Habitat for Humanity development.
“Volunteer had built this gate for us and carved some really neat designs. Out of the blue, he gave it to us and installed the gate and now it’s gone,” Thomas said.
The organization has suffered break-ins and theft before – but nothing like this.
“It’s just kind of bizarre that a gate – a simple, but really nice gate is gone and now we have to try to replace it,” Thomas said.
“Disheartening for us to understand that this kind of activity can kind of stall our trajectory or shake us a little bit. But it certainly never keeps us down,” Brandon Thoms said, Habitat for Humanity Rogue Valley.
The organization called the theft ‘a low blow’ – but said it won’t hold them back, thanks to the community support.
“They’re resilient and they help us and keep us moving at times. It’s nice knowing that they’re always behind us and keeping us moving on,” Thoms said.
While the theft is upsetting, organization leaders said they understand people make mistakes. Workers said if the gate shows back up, they’ll move on – no questions asked.
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