CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Two students, a young man and a young woman, went to the St. Vincent de Paul Brookside Food Pantry last Monday.
“And while they were in the pantry, getting their food service, unfortunately, somebody stole both of their bicycles,” said Bob Kellner of St. Vincent de Paul Society.
The bikes were locked together but not secured to anything.
“(He) was able to get on one bike and steadied the other bike and rode off, around the back of the building and then down Pearl Road with both bicycles,” explained Kellner.
The two students, who go back to the Dominic Republic next month, work at Progressive Field doing prep work in the kitchen, working long and late hours.
“Their bicycles were their sole means of transportation,” said Kellner, “and now they have to rely on walking or the bus system which isn’t always the most efficient to get around the city.”
The food pantry — which serves about 150 people on either Mondays or Thursdays — rallied around the students and found replacements for their bikes.
“They said, all in all, they’ve had a good experience in Cleveland, a lot of great people except for unfortunately, one individual,” said Kellner.
But they still want the thief caught.
“If anybody recognizes the individual, if they can give us information just to help prevent some of the more vulnerable clients in our area that are getting services already.”
The students filed a police report at the 2nd District and now the pantry plans to take money out of its budget to put a secure bikes rack in front of the building on Pearl Road to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Copyright 2024 WOIO. All rights reserved.
This article was originally published by a www.cleveland19.com . Read the Original article here. .