It’s been extremely busy for the past couple of days at the Manna Food Center on Gaither Road in Montgomery County, Md.
“Today, we have over 350 people picking up food here,” said Executive Director Kim Damion.
So it was particularly hard to take what awaited staff and volunteers when they showed up for work Tuesday morning. One of their vans was gone.
"This is our busiest time of year," Damion said. "We really require all of our fleet to get out there and pick all of the donations that we have."
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The van is distinctively marked with the Manna Food Center logo on the sides -- and fortunately, it was located in Rockville Tuesday afternoon.
The thieves also made off with some food from another truck at the Gaither Road facility.
"I really don’t know about people nowadays," said Audrey King, as she picked up food for herself and her disabled son. "I’ve been coming here for years. It’s really a big help."
Trung Vu said he heard that the center was low on turkeys so he went out and bought a trunk-load of frozen birds for the center. When told of the theft, he called it "absolutely horrible." As he unloaded turkeys from his car, he added, "We should all pull together."
Volunteer Joseph Harris found a silver lining, noting that no one has been injured. Still, the work they do at the center was going to be a little harder without the van.
"I mean, Manna’s here to serve the community," Damion said. "When they steal from Manna Food Center, they’re stealing from all of our residents here."
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