Santa Rosa donation site to close because of repeated break-ins

Three break-ins at a downtown Santa Rosa donation site for fire victims force its closure.|

A downtown Santa Rosa donation center which for more than two months has been distributing clothes, shoes, toys and household items to those affected by the North Bay fires is closing prematurely after three attempted break-ins or acts of vandalism in the past two weeks.

Windows and glass doors have been shattered in both the front and rear of the retail space at 741 Fourth St. near the Russian River Brewery. The landlord has been donating the space, said Paul Drake, who runs the donation center that’s closing today. The most recent incident occurred early Christmas morning, he said.

“It’s heartbreaking, it’s disappointing,” Drake said. “It’s really not personal. …... It points to a bigger need in Santa Rosa.”

Drake, a second-grade teacher at Hidden Valley Elementary School, said it was mutually agreed to close the center because the landlord “just can’t afford the cost of repeated break-ins.” He said they’d hoped to keep the center open through January.

It initially opened Oct. 14 to help the families of 135 schoolchildren at Hidden Valley Elementary School who lost homes during the Tubbs fire. Hidden Valley’s satellite campus also burned in the inferno.

From the street, the center looks a little like a makeshift thrift store, with clothes on racks and household items and supplies piled on folding tables or in open cardboard boxes. One donation center worker called it “eye candy” for anyone passing by the windows.

On Wednesday, volunteers from the Hidden Valley Elementary School community began organizing the donations and packing them in boxes. The goods will be donated to other organizations.

Jessica Rasmussen, whose daughter, Valerie, 7, attended Hidden Valley Satellite School, volunteered to help pack clothes and other items. Rasmussen said it was unfortunate the center was closing as many families have yet to find permanent housing. When they do, they will be in need of household items such as appliances and furnishings, she said. She was confident the school’s Parent Faculty Organization would come together again in the near future to help families meet those needs.

While Rasmussen was volunteering at the center, she said she saw a woman going through her purse that was with other volunteers’ possessions. The incident? punctuated what has become a troubling close to the donation center’s tenure at the vacant 9,600 square-foot retail spot, which once housed Stanroy Music Center.

Bill Hillendahl, the agent for the property owner, Kushins & Langendorf, said he didn’t know whether the recent incidents were acts of vandalism or robbery. Hillendahl said aside from the broken windows there were marks on the front door indicating someone had tried to pry it open.

“It’s a little baffling …... it’s all free stuff,” he said, adding that the cost to replace the rear window broken about two weeks ago was $400.

Nancy Lanz, another volunteer and Hidden Valley Elementary School parent, said the project was more than a donation center.

“It definitely was a solid positive resource for our school’s community,” she said. “Beyond the stuff that was donated, it was a way for people to come together after the tragedy.”

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