A non-profit learning center in north Gilroy was burglarized
twice in less than a week, and thieves made off with nine laptop
computers.
A non-profit learning center in north Gilroy was burglarized twice in less than a week, and thieves made off with nine laptop computers.
Staff at the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center at the Gilroy Apartments, 500 IOOF Ave., arrived to work April 29 to discover their office door kicked in and nine Dell laptop computers valued at about $1,000 each and $300 in donations and field trip money missing. As if that weren’t enough of a blow, burglars hit the center again Tuesday, taking a modem, a phone battery and food, Resident Service Coordinator Maggie Gross said.
“It’s disheartening when we’re working to serve the community,” Gross said Thursday. “Now we’re working to rebuild our confidence.”
The after-school program occupies a large recreational room near the leasing office of the Gilroy Apartments complex and provides free tutoring and care for about 40 kindergarten through sixth grade students who live there. With all of their computers gone, Gross and her colleague, Thomas Guzowski, are struggling to make due.
“Lots of people use this space,” Gross said. “It could have been anybody.”
The fact that the two burglaries could have been carried out by members of the community “makes it even more upsetting,” she said.
The thieves not only took property but also left plenty of damage to door frames and the computer cart and ransacked the office. Even drawers containing only papers were rifled through or dumped out, Gross said. Staff plans to have an alarm installed on the building soon to prevent future break ins.
To counter the destruction and theft, several families came forward to donate money, Guzowski said.
“The people that did step up were really nice,” he said. “It was pretty heartwarming.”
To make donations, call Maggie Gross at 847-9162.
