MILWAUKEE — Maricha Harris could only smile as she looked through the over 30 newly donated Halloween costumes at the Dominican Center.
Last week, all 30, intended for the organization’s Safe Trick-or-Treat & Harvest Fest, were stolen by a burglar who broke into the center on back-to-back nights.
Previous Coverage: https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-county/burglar-steals-tech-equipment-costumes-for-kids-on-back-to-back-nights-from-milwaukee-nonprofit
Since TMJ4 broke the story, the organization has been receiving an outpouring of physical and monetary donations from the community.
As of Wednesday, they had raised nearly $5,000. Harris estimated that the burglar took over $12,000, grabbing laptops, TVs, computers, diapers, and even snacks for kids and teens.
Watch: Volunteers overwhelmed with support after Milwaukee nonprofit burglarized twice
Quan Caston is a resident artist and a volunteer at the Dominican Center. He helps teach chess to kids and also works with teenagers weekly on various art projects for the Amani neighborhood.
“When something like this happens, they’re saddened as well, probably even more so than we are, because this is literally for them.,” said Caston.
Caston and the kids he works with used some of the computers for brainstorming designs for their next big projects. Now, he’s been forced to get creative and work around the stolen equipment.
“We deal with residents and their issues all too often,” said Caston. “Now, we have an issue similar to what our residents go through, and so this is our opportunity to, again, practice what we preach.”
He tells TMJ4 that his students have helped him work around the loss of tools for the moment.
Helen Reynolds is an Amani resident and sees some of the adversity community members deal with firsthand. For the last 60 days, she’s been volunteering her therapy services at the center.
“This is a safe haven for the community,” said Reynolds. “This is a place they can come to just be and feel respected and loved.“
Reynolds tells TMJ4 that residents have been coming to her after their safe space was violated by the burglar.
“It has increased the [number of]people that are coming to get services,” said Reynolds. “The people that are getting services are responding, you know how it made them feel, and just processing all of that.“
Both Quan and Helen were happy to see the outpouring of support the organization is receiving right now.
“It’s encouraging, it's uplifting, and it makes you just want to keep going,” said Reynolds.
It’s kept both of them inspired to continue serving the neighborhood.
“We’re going to come back stronger than ever,” said Caston.
The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating the burglaries. At this time, police have not provided an update on the investigation.
Donations are still being accepted.
Items can be dropped at the Dominican Center during normal business hours from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday or 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday.
The center is located at 2470 West Locust Street. You can call 414-444-9930 to see how you can help.
Click here to learn more: Dominican Center (dominican-center.org)
Monetary Donations: Help us recover from a burglary at Dominican Center (kindest.com)
The organization is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for this burglary.
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