Cameras Capture Thieves Stealing a Community Fridge for Families in Need

A Dallas bookstore owner says thieves stole a refrigerator filled with free healthy food that was meant for families in need.

Akwete Tyehimba says they started the People's Fridge as a way to offer free produce and other staples to families struggling to make it through the pandemic

"We have a lot of people who are on social security, fixed incomes, people who receive disability checks," Tyehimba said.

Three years into the pandemic, she says the need is still strong.

"All through the day, especially in the morning when school is out, in the afternoon when it is time to cook dinner, people do come and they pick up things that they can get to piece together a nice meal for their children," said Tyehimba.

They left it open outside of the Pan African Connection Bookstore in southern Dallas 24 hours a day so that people could take what they need when they needed it. But over the weekend, it disappeared. When they checked surveillance cameras, they saw thieves hauling away the entire fridge.

For now, donors are still able to stock the pantry table with canned goods and other items that don't require refrigeration. And Tyehimba isn't filing a police report.

She says she's focused on finding another fridge.

"There's no judgment or anger because I know the creator always brings us something bigger and better," Tyehimba said.

She has received a couple of encouraging phone calls and is hopeful she'll have a donation of a new, larger fridge by the end of the week. Tyehimba says someone has already offered to weld the next one to the ground for greater security.

ONLINE: Learn more about community services and resources at the P.A.C. here.