MARYSVILLE — When Dell Deierling arrived at the Marysville Community Food Bank on the morning of Thursday, July 28, he found a Marysville police officer’s card on the door.
That was how he found out that a lawnmower, a leaf-blower and two cans of gasoline had been stolen from the food bank’s storage shed.
Troy Bainard, who serves as a caretaker to property adjacent to the food bank, first noticed that the food bank’s storage shed was open at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27.
“I called the police right away,” said Bainard, who knew that the food bank isn’t open on Wednesdays. “People walk through these neighborhoods and steal stuff all the time, from lights to lawn tools. I had to start locking up my ladders.”
Deierling, the director of the Marysville Community Food Bank, explained that there was no trace of the padlock that had been on the shed’s door, even though JoAnn Sewell, the volunteer coordinator for the food bank, knows it was locked up when she left the food bank on Tuesday, July 26.
“Can you believe some dirty, rotten, low-down thief would do this?” Sewell said. “Dell’s letter said it much better than I could. What I have to say, you couldn’t print.”
Deierling wrote a letter to The Marysville Globe, which will be printed in its Aug. 10 issue, in which he addressed the food bank thief, emphasizing how important the items were to the food bank that had been stolen.
Sewell explained that the lawnmower had been donated to the food bank two years ago, and expressed the hope that another generous member of the community might donate another one. Although the food bank leases its land from St. Mary’s Catholic Church for $1 a year, food bank volunteers are still responsible for maintaining those grounds.
Deierling and Sewell both acknowledged how unlikely it is that the thief will be tracked down at this point.
“The only trail was a few clumps of grass through the parking lot,” Sewell said. “The police don’t have any leads. They can’t just stop everyone they see with a lawnmower.”
Sewell noted that the food bank is set to install a security camera system that they’ve already purchased, while Deierling has no plans to place any other valuables in the storage shed until he can make it more secure.
In the meantime, Deierling expressed his gratitude to neighbors such as Bainard for looking out for them.
“We all have to keep our eyes open,” Bainard said. “If you see something that doesn’t seem right, call the police.”
