PACIFIC BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - A local non-profit turned tragedy to hope over the weekend, after a theft left them without key equipment.
The PB Street Guardians hires and trains homeless people to do jobs around town. Most of it includes cleaning and street beautification projects.
Over the weekend, someone broke into their storage shed and stole $900 worth of cleaning equipment.
"It's very disappointing," says organizer Caryn Blanton. "We're just a small non-profit and we're very frugal."
The thief got a box of keys, a cordless blower and a brand new weed wacker.
"Not having that equipment puts a big dent in what we can do," Blanton says. "To go back and replace everything was a considerable amount of money. It's something we were not going to be able to do right away."
Over the weekend, Blanton posted about the theft on social media. She says it was mainly to ask people to keep an eye out for any of the stolen equipment.
Instead, she got an overwhelming response.
Several people offered small donations to help buy new equipment.
Then, Su Barry, a local lawyer and philanthropist who runs the Su Barry Foundation, donated enough money to replace everything.
"We did not skip a beat. We had everything replaced within 24 hours," Blanton says. "That really warmed my heart so much. It wasn't about the money, it wasn't about having the things replaced. It was about making the connection with the community that we're all in this together."
Blanton says she's already bought the new equipment. To make sure this doesn't happen again, she's no longer keeping it in the storage shed.
