A Pompano Beach church is reeling after its food trailer was stolen.
The mobile kitchen has been a blessing for the Vision Worship Center. It’s been used to feed both congregants in times of celebration and the homeless around the holidays. Folks last gathered around the mobile kitchen at a fish fest fundraiser last Saturday.
"The next morning it was gone," said Warren Richards, a longtime church member.
The trailer was stationed behind the church, in its rear parking lot, for years. But when members returned for the Sunday service they realized the trailer had been wheeled away.
“It's a time for giving. A season for hope. It's absolutely devastating that someone would come to the church property and just pull [away] with $50,000 worth of equipment," Richards said.
It was with food made and sold behind the trailer’s counter that the church says it was able to contribute to the Sergeant Christopher Reyka Memorial Education Fund, in honor of the slain Broward Sheriff’s Office sergeant.
"We donated 100 percent of what we raised with the use of this food trailer," Richards said.
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According to Richards, there was no evidence of forced entry, though the gate surrounding the church would have been locked overnight. The truck can't be driven away so it would have required another vehicle in order to be transported.
"They either were casing the location, saw what they needed to do, came with the equipment they needed to jack it up, hook it up to whatever vehicle they used and pulled it away," said Richards.
Now the Vision Worship Center is asking the community, which it frequently gives back to, to give the church a hand. If you know anything that can help, give Broward County Crime Stoppers a call at 954-493-TIPS.
"You're affecting the whole community, so please return the trailer,” Richards said. “We need this trailer, the community needs this trailer, the homeless people need this trailer. Please return it."
