GRESHAM, Ore. — A nonprofit is out thousands of dollars after someone broke into their fireworks tent in Gresham over the weekend, stealing a table full of merchandise. Organizers said it's money that would have gone into the community.
For the last three years, Portland nonprofit Shooting Star Adventures has run a fireworks stand in the Gresham Town Fair parking lot. It's their biggest fundraiser of the year, raising scholarship money for families who can't afford to attend their outdoor summer camps.
"It is 100% about the kids," said Erin McPherson, president of the nonprofit. "This is an all-volunteer-run organization and we just want to give back to the kids in our community."
Over the weekend, someone pillaged their stand, stealing a table full of fireworks worth about $3,000. McPherson said it's the equivalent of 10 camp scholarships.
McPherson demonstrated that the nonprofit had added metal security fencing around the tent this year, but the thieves threw caution to the wind in breaking through.
"We just wanted to make sure everything was safe and sound overnight," she said. "In the backside here you can tell where someone has cut through the plastic decoration fencing, and they came went over to the poles and actually burnt the zip ties with something. Which is not safe to do at a firework stand."
On Sunday morning, McPherson found an empty bin where the stolen fireworks had been stored left outside of the tent.
She reached out to a few nearby businesses, including Dick's Sporting Goods, to see if their outdoor security cameras caught the culprits. They said that none of the cameras were pointed in the direction of the tent.
McPherson filed a police report, but without a description of the suspect, police said there wasn't much they could do.
Now McPherson is left wondering how she'll get the funds that were meant to help families in need. The nonprofit has opened a donation tab on its website for community members who want to help them make up what was taken.
"To have someone take not from us but from the kids is really disheartening," she said. "Actions have far-reaching consequences that really affect a lot of people in this situation."