A long-running holiday tradition in Mobile suffered a setback in mid-December 2014 after donations gathered for families served by AIDS Alabama South were stolen or destroyed in a break-in at a church storage site.
The nonprofit had been assembling 120 gift boxes for clients and their families, all of whom live below the poverty level. Development specialist Erika Corey Turner said the boxes were being filled with clothing, coats, hats, gloves, toys, non-perishable food and personal hygiene items. Much of that inventory was lost when vandals struck the building where the donations were being kept.
“Items generously donated by the community were either stolen or damaged,” Turner said.
The damage was discovered on a Friday, according to the organization. Officials at the church where the donations were stored asked to remain anonymous while police investigated. The gift-box project has been an annual effort for AIDS Alabama South for about a quarter of a century, and volunteers had been working on it since August.
Turner said the group was heartbroken but determined to recover in time for the holidays. “We are all just speechless and heartsick that anyone would inflict destruction to those in need, yet we are determined to push forward and create a happy ending,” she said.
The organization planned to regroup the following Monday, sorting through what survived and beginning to repackage the undamaged gifts. “The joy that our clients and their families deserve is what will motivate us to turn this event around and make it the celebration it is intended to be,” Turner said. “We will reassess this situation and begin reassembling and packaging the gifts that survived without damage.”
AIDS Alabama South provides services and support to people living with HIV and AIDS across the Mobile region, and its annual gift drive has become a fixture of the holiday season for many of the families it serves. The setback prompted a fresh appeal to the community for donations to help replace what was lost.
Residents who wanted to help were encouraged to reach out to the organization directly or through its website to contribute replacement items so the boxes could still be delivered before Christmas.