N.S. food bank the target of ongoing break-ins, thefts

The Berwick food bank door is pictured. (Callum Smith/CTV News Atlantic)

Around a year and a half ago, volunteers at the Berwick Food Bank figured a break-in and stolen laptop was just a one-off. Now, they’ve been targets of theft four times in the last two months alone.

Both doors at the food bank have been damaged in break-ins, needing to be reinforced. The side-door even had to be forfeited.

“Our building looks more like a jail than like a welcoming food bank. When you come there, you’ll see two plates of steel bolted on the door,” says volunteer and board member Shawn Muzzerall.

In one case, thieves beat the deadbolt out of place to gain entry, leaving a hole in the door.

Then, Muzzerall says they stole three cartfuls of groceries. “There’s no other way to describe it than very awful, very dreadful,” he adds.

The food bank opened in 1987, and is now serving around 40 families per week. Muzzerall can’t recall ever being targeted like this before.

As a group, he says they’re frustrated and discouraged. He assumes there’s some level of desperation behind the break-ins.

“People can draw many conclusions as to why a food bank that will give so generously to many people – we actually will deliver to people’s doors that they can’t get to our facility – why we become a target,” he says.

Between the stolen food and replacing a steel door, Muzzerall estimates they’re out more than $2,000.

“I’ve retrieved five grocery carts from the woods,” he says. “They come in, they run it over to the trail. Somebody, perhaps, is meeting them on the trail.”

Police have been called each time. A security system has been installed and the food bank is set to receive cameras, too.

The building’s landlord calls it a heartbreaking situation, and attributes the crime uptick to the housing crisis, addictions and mental health issues.

He says more supports are needed to help address those issues.

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