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Volunteers with a food bank in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley say they are disheartened after their fourth break-in within two months.
Shaun Muzzerall, a volunteer and board member with the Berwick Food Bank in Berwick, N.S., said the latest incident was discovered Sunday morning.
He said the building’s landlord saw the door was open and the deadbolt had been damaged. Muzzerall said three grocery carts of food had been taken.
“I really don’t know what the motives are, what’s causing them to do all this,” Muzzerall told CBC Radio’s Maritime Noon on Wednesday.
“Everybody can draw lots of different conclusions as to why — we just want it to stop.”
The door that was forced open is one that has been vandalized before, Muzzerall said, and it now “looks more like a jail” than a welcoming food bank, because of the steel plates they have bolted in place to keep it secure.
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Muzzerall said they believe all four thefts have been done by the same people, because the same tactics are being used.
He said their location is vulnerable because it’s at the end of an industrial park near a popular trail, along which they’ve recovered their empty shopping carts in recent weeks.
Their group has seen nearly $1,000 worth of food taken so far, Muzzerall said.
But, he said, the local community has stepped up to help with extra donations, and the food bank has enough to keep their doors open.
“We have to be prepared to serve our vulnerable people in our community that are food insecure, and so that doesn’t stop,” Muzzerall said.
The RCMP have been notified of all the recent incidents, Muzzerall said, and they are working on a security plan with their landlord that could include installing cameras.
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