An important amount of money, and even the peanuts and cracker jacks, have gone missing from the Renfrew, Ont. baseball diamonds.
The canteen at Ma-Te-Way Park in Renfrew was broken into overnight Saturday. It is operated by Renfrew Minor Baseball and a small group of their volunteers.
“It was devastating. I really was lost for words,” said Kasia Maves, president of Renfrew Minor Baseball.
Maves says the rear sliding window to the canteen was broken open and the thief pillaged through every corner of the building.
She says the organization lost about $1,000 in cash and even more in inventory.
“I could see breaking in and taking the money, but the inventory that they took was very substantial. Hundreds of dollars worth of candy bars and ice cream and everything. Everything was just gone.”
Maves says the loss is significant to the organization, as the canteen provides crucial dollars for equipment purchases, field maintenance, tournament fees, player awards, and more for its 150 youth baseball players.
“We really rely on the canteen and the proceeds from the canteen to really cover some of our costs for the season. It does become quite substantial for us when we lose the proceeds from the canteen for that.”
Town of Renfrew recreation staff say they found the building damaged Sunday morning and notified police, who are investigating the incident.
Staff believe the suspect was scoping out the building hours before breaking in, saying security footage showed the person attempting to enter two other nearby buildings.
“I think with how busy the facility has been, especially on Friday and Saturday with the ball tournament, probably somebody was trying to see if there was any money made in the pavilion from all the activity,” said Shawn Eckford, recreation operations specialist with the Town of Renfrew.
“It is definitely significant, and just unfortunate that would happen to a not-for-profit kids’ organization.”
After sharing news of the break-in on its Facebook page, Renfrew Minor Baseball received numerous offers of donations to help the organization get back on its feet.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Maves said they had received more than $900 in community support.
Renfrew Minor Baseball says donations can be sent via e-transfer to renfrewmbaseballtreasurer@gmail.com.