'The response was amazing': Guelph non-profit thanks community after break and enter theft

Guelph -

Earlier this month, Torchlight Services in Guelph found the locks on their shed cut and the 40 planks of wood inside, missing.

Executive Director, Patty Coté-Duncanson had choice words for the person or persons responsible.

"Whoever did this, you should be ashamed. It's a non-profit organization," Coté-Duncanson said.

Torchlight serves participants living with varying disabilities. The organization helps teach them life skills through real-world activities and they are well known for their wood shop.

Participants use scrap pieces of wood, craft them into beautiful items and sell them.

From birdhouses, to festive decor and any craft that inspires them.

Participant Derrick Miller has been coming to Torchlight for roughly 7 years. This week he is part of a team making art work with individual wood strips, which are pieced together like a puzzle and painted to be comic book symbols or characters. Spiderman and Darth Vader sit proudly on the wall along with Mr. & Mrs. Pac-man and Sonic the Hedgehog amongst others.

"Martin plans them out and we paint them, then we assemble them," Miller said about his team effort.

Other members of the group are then responsible for selling the items and all participants divide the profits. The organization does not take a cut.

Doug Weldon lives without his sight and in a wheelchair. He has been coming to Torchlight for over 10 years and is known as an expert sander, “I like coming and working in the shop.”

He says he often works with headphones because his hearing is very important to him.

The money he makes from his creations, affords him more independence. He recently bought some new items with the profit he made at Torchlight.

"My new snow suit. I bought my new fishing rod. Now I am going to get new sheets for my bed at home," Weldon explained.

While assembling tiny pieces of wood and getting ready to paint them, Miller explained, “When I found out the news that someone stole wood from us it came at quite a shock and I was sad about it.”

It’s believed the robbery happened at the organization's Edinburgh Road location over the weekend of Nov. 6 and 7. The shop manager discovered the theft the following Monday.

"The door was swinging open and there was nothing left in there," Coté-Duncanson said.

The roughly 40 planks would have been a year’s worth of product, for participants to use.

"I didn't know how we were going to move forward because we didn’t have anything, that was all our wood," Coté-Duncanson added.

Police are now investigating and say the suspect or suspects would have needed a vehicle to commit the robbery due of the size of the load.

Guelph Police Service media relations coordinator Scott Tracey said potential charges include theft under $5,000.

"It was in a locked shed and the lock was broken off, so certainly break and enter would be something they would likely be charged with as well," Tracey added.

Police believe the monetary value of the haul is around $2,000.

Coté-Duncanson says she knows the price of wood has risen lately but to the people at Torchlight it’s worth so much more.

Thankfully, once the news of the wood theft broke, the phones lines, and ultimately the faces at Torchlight, lit up.

"The response was amazing and it kind of took all the feelings away from how we felt when we noticed all the wood gone," Coté-Duncanson said.

Adding that it was difficult to keep up with the generous calls and emails they were receiving.

In less than two weeks' time, the organization received so many donations of both wood and money, from the community that they now have more wood then what was stolen.

"It keeps these guys busy and happy," Coté-Duncanson said with a smile.

"That’s all we want is for them, to be happy."

Miller agreed, saying he's beyond excited to finish his project and continue many more, “I am just as happy that the community was able to donate.”

Next year, Torchlight services will be moving to a new location on Carden Street and will be selling items from that location.