Spreading Threads Clothing Bank, a nonprofit organization that provides free clothing to children living in foster care in Tucson and Southern Arizona, has experienced not one, but two break-ins of its clothing donation bin within the last week.
On Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, thieves targeted the Spreading Threads Clothing Bank donation bin located in the industrial park known as The Exchange Place, 1870 W. Prince Road, Tucson, AZ 85841, off Prince and Romero. It took thieves repeated attempts to break the locks on the donation bin, but when they got in, they took all of the recent donations. To add insult to injury, after stealing everything in the blue steel bin, the thieves put their own locks on the donation bin.
To learn more about Spreading Threads Clothing Bank or to make a donation, visit https://www.spreadingthreads.com/
“I don’t know what donations they have stolen,” said Michele Wright, executive director and cofounder of Spreading Threads Clothing Bank. “It’s just the most violating feeling. It’s nice to have our donation bin near our location. The thieves really had to work at breaking into it and for them to put their own locks on it is just unconscionable.”
Wright said she had to purchase a bolt cutter to get the thieves’ locks off the bin and had to buy new, heavy-duty locks to replace the ones that had been removed during the theft. She filed a police report with Tucson Police Department but there have been no leads to date.
Thieves had been working on breaking into the bin for weeks unsuccessfully, according to Wright, damaging it in the process. Wright spoke with the property manager of the complex who said they have been having problems with vandalism as well. Wright said the property manager told her they lock the gates and someone has been damaging the gate locks, too.
Just a couple of days after discovering the first theft, Wright said the thieves attempted to break into the bin again. That damage was discovered on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Wright said when the thieves attempted that break-in, they also damaged the drop door.
“I had to buy additional locks and then I added washers and bolts to try to keep people from cutting the locks,” said Wright of discovering the second theft. “The day we came in to put in the new locks, we found they had damaged the drop door by attempting to pull stuff out of the bin that way.”
Like other nonprofits, Spreading Threads has already been feeling the pain of fewer donations as people struggle with increasing costs due to inflation. The cost of repairing the donation bin repeatedly is cutting into funds that could purchase clothing, hygiene products, shoes, and supplies for local foster children.
“This is costing us a lot of money to buy equipment and repair the damage,” said Wright. “These are used clothes for foster kids. They are stealing from foster kids! That just makes it that much worse.”
This isn’t the first time the bin has been broken into since it was relocated to the industrial park last March. The first theft occurred four or five months ago. All told, these break-ins have cost the nonprofit foster organization roughly $400 since the thefts began.
Wright said other nonprofits reported they had to get rid of their donation bins due to similar issues. She said Spreading Threads is considering removing the donation bin as a result of the thefts.
“I honestly don’t know what we are going to do,” said Wright. “If we remove the bin, that really restricts when people can make donations. I think people like the convenience of the drop bin.”
Spreading Threads Clothing Bank is always seeking donations of new and gently used clothing and shoes as well as new socks, underwear, bras, and hygiene products. In addition, Spreading Threads is seeking monetary donations to help cover the cost of repairs and equipment for the damaged bin. Monetary donations are also used to purchase new clothing for foster children birth to age 18. This is the ideal time for Arizona residents to make a donation as they can get a dollar-for-dollar reduction of their Arizona state taxes with April 15, 2022, quickly approaching.
As a Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organization (QFCO), individuals and married couples can increase their charitable tax donations for a dollar-for-dollar reduction of their Arizona state tax liability. Individuals may donate up to $500 each year while married couples filing jointly may donate up to $1,000. Businesses may also make donations as well. All monetary donations must be received by April 15, 2022, to qualify.
Spreading Threads Clothing Bank is a grassroots, 501(c)3 nonprofit clothing bank based in Tucson, Arizona, with the purpose of providing free clothing to youth in foster care in Pima County and Southern Arizona. Since its inception, Spreading Threads has assisted thousands of children and families in Pima County and Southern Arizona with obtaining the clothing and supplies needed for day-to-day living as well as for school, church, and special events. They have performed countless emergency pulls for children who have entered the foster care system with little to nothing in terms of clothing, school supplies, personal hygiene products, books, and toys.