LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Las Vegas charity organization lost $35,000 worth of equipment when thieves stole their U-Haul trailer after a successful Thanksgiving event.
Adan Van Dam, president of Give Back, said the trailer was stolen Thursday night after the organization returned from their “Gobble Gobble Give Back” event at Llama Lot, where they served thousands of meals.
“We’d just gotten back from a successful event called Gobble Gobble Give Back at Llama Lot,” Van Dam said. “Came back to the office, parked our U-Haul, which was loaded with stuff we needed to return. We woke up, and the U-Haul was missing.”
The stolen trailer contained chairs, tables, signage, merchandise and donations. Only tire tracks and broken glass remained where the trailer was parked.
“Devastating. We just gave back to our community, fed a lot of people. This is the last thing we wanted,” Van Dam said.
Van Dam said the stolen U-Haul has Arizona plates with a butterfly sticker on the plate. He hopes someone will recognize the vehicle.
While Metro police are investigating the theft, the Give Back team is now figuring out how to move forward with future events around Christmas.
“It’s hard to stay positive. We’re supposed to be the smile on other people’s end to help them through hard times, right? We’ve helped so many people,” Van Dam said. “I’m in a difficult position because I just feel like my hands are tied to a certain extent. I just have to wait it through and hope people might want to come help the organization.”
The organization is holding onto hope that help comes along, whether to retrieve what was stolen or to help the group continue its mission to give back to Las Vegas.
“I’ve had some really amazing people reach out to me in the last couple days,” Van Dam said. “Restoring hope in the fact that there are good people in this community that do care. Not just financially but genuinely. Want to know what’s going on and what they can do.”
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