By Casey Neill
Heartless thieves stole a trailer and barbecue used to feed the needy from Lilydale-based charity Holy Fools.
CEO Neal Taylor said they’d used a Feed Melbourne grant received late last year to buy the trailer and new barbecue in January.
“We were needing a larger new barbecue,” he said.
“Both have been nicked.”
The Holy Fools team made the discovery on Friday 26 April.
“I was sick to the stomach,” Mr Taylor said.
“I think I’m in shock.
“I just don’t know how to react.
“I’m incredibly angry and saddened.
“At the same token I just don’t know why anyone would stoop so low as to steal something like this, knowing it was for a charity.”
The new trailer has the Holy Fools logo on the side, and as well as the barbecue held chairs, tables, boxes of supplies, condiments and everything the charity uses to put on Street Angels each week.
“We were using it every Wednesday and it was feeding anywhere between 20 to 50 people a week,” Mr Taylor said.
The trailer was parked at the back of Lilydale Baptist church.
“They had to cut off a wheel lock and a tow ball lock,” Mr Taylor said.
“Both of them were the top of the range that I could buy, so they would have had to use a grinder of some sort to grind them off.
“It’s obviously some sort of premediated act.
“It was done on Anzac Day when there was no one around.
“I know the church here has had things stolen before.
“It’s just a very sad case of … you can’t leave anything around.”
Mr Taylor said a thief stole the Holy Fools van a few years ago and broke into the charity’s office.
“That turned out to be a local ice addict,” he said.
“He got caught and admitted he broke in to feed his habit.”
Some people have already offered help to replace the trailer.
Lilydale Police are investigating the theft.
