Helping Haven, Salvation Army stores hampered by thefts

A number of thefts and acts of vandalism have been reported at both of the non-profit thrift stores over the past year and the store managers request people donate during store hours to help reduce damage and thefts.

"We try our best to proactively make things easier for everyone and proactively keep things safe, but it doesn't always work out," Havre Salvation Army Store Manager Carissa Minnick said.

Havre's Helping Haven Store Manager Jill Miller said they have experienced a similar issue, although in addition to people damaging donations overnight the store also struggles with people shoplifting items.

Minnick said the thefts at the Salvation Army store are a nightly occurrence. People drop off donations after hours and no one is at the store to pull them in. Closed bags tend to be ripped open, with the contents of the bags - usually clothes - scattered everywhere. Items and donations have obviously been gone through and any glass items which are donated are often shattered or broken. 

"A lot of the donations are usually ruined," she said.

In one case, she said, someone had donated a couch, but because of a lack of volunteers and the couch weighing too much for her to carry herself it had to be left out. She added that someone with a truck had later pulled up behind the store and stole the couch.

The thefts usually happen every night, although some of the cases have been during the day, she said. She added that it is not unusual for thrift stores to have the problem of people stealing donations, although it has progressively gotten worse and makes it more difficult for the store to collect donations. In the past month, a large number of donations have been destroyed or ruined, which, not only affects the mission of the Salvation Army, which relies on money from the thrift store to operate the majority of the programs, but also reduces what it has available in store for people.

"It's makes things a lot more difficult," Minnick said. "Especially with the lack of volunteers and the low volume of staff we can hold."

She added that she suspects the majority of the thefts and acts of vandalism are from the same groups of people, with many of the cases having the same method of operation. She said that she has previously contacted the local law enforcement, but because the store's security camera was down they had no evidence to help officers investigate. 

"What are you going to accomplish when nobody knows?" she asked.

The store has since fixed it's security cameras and will take future footage to police, she added. She said the store has also worked on making sure everything is pulled in before the store closes. She added that she also personally goes down to the store on her days off to try to pull donations in to prevent them from being damaged, but the first step of helping solve the issue is for people to donate within store hours. 

The Salvation Army is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and donations should be brought to the back of the building.

She added that the store does not have a lock box for donations, although they would like to have one in the future.

Having more volunteers would also help correct the issue, Minnick said.

More volunteers means the store would be able to go through the donations faster as well as get them organized and priced faster. She added that the store also needs men and women who are able to lift the heavier donations, which would also help prevent heavier items, such as a couch, from having to sit out in the back of the store.

Miller said Helping Haven has had several incidents while the store is busy, people walk out with items. The Helping Haven is in the community to help people in the community, she added, and people stealing or damaging items hurts its mission.

She added that the store does have a camera, which records a number of the theft the store experiences and they do take the evidence to law enforcement if needed. But, similar to the Salvation Army, the best way to combat people tampering, stealing or destroying donations is for the community to make their donations during business hours.

The Helping Haven has also recently changed its business hours, with the store now open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

She said she also encourages the community to donate clean used items. Even if donations are not damaged or destroyed overnight by vandals, some of the items which are donated have to be thrown away due to them not being clean. She added that the Helping Haven does not have its own washer and dryer for clothes and if people could wash their donations it would help greatly. 

"We are grateful for everything that we get because we get a lot of donations," she said.

She added that the community has a large need for beds, bedding, towels and kitchen items and people can donate those items at the Helping Haven to help address the need.

The Helping Haven also encourages people to volunteer, she said, adding that it already has a number of great volunteers but if people want more information on how to get involved they can contact her at the store.

If people can't afford items, the Helping Haven has a number of programs available for people which allows them to obtain items, she said.

"We never turn people away," she said.