Food Pantry in Rusk dealing with thefts

RUSK – The Good Samaritan Food Pantry and Thrift Store is used to giving to people but over the past few weeks the nonprofit said they’ve had several thefts from the donation center in Rusk. Our news partner, KETK, reports that the Rusk Police Department has posted several photos of nine different thieves, and seven of them have been identified with assistance from the public.

“The donations are sold here in the thrift store, and then the proceeds are used to buy food for our food pantry and that feeds the community,” Good Samaritan Public Relations, Lana Z said. “So, when those donations are being stolen, it’s taking the funds that we are able to buy food for.”

Z said this is creating an issue for the nonprofit, because contributions play a part in how they serve the community. The Good Samaritan Food Pantry feeds thousands of local families each year and 420 families a month. When they suspected someone might be stealing the donations, they put up a camera which captured several thefts.

“The first night that we had the video surveillance… We had a 9:30 p.m. at 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., thefts with multiple suspects in it,” Z said.

The thefts continued over the following nights. People came after the sunset and even filled an entire car with donations.

“People know what they’re doing,” Z said. “They come with flashlights in their hand, and they look through the donations and they’re kind of picky about what they want to take.”

“We’ve got quite a few people that called in, emailed, texted, one of my officers’ phones was blowing up for a week,” Rusk Police Department detective Sergeant Jeremy Farmer said.

“We’re here to help the community. So if anyone needed help, if anyone needed clothing, if anyone needed food, if anyone needed household items or anything, we would help them,” Z said. “They just have to come in and ask us for help.”

The pantry said their goal is to stop the thefts so they can continue to serve the Rusk area.