Employees of Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore Home Improvement Outlet in Longmont discovered on Jan. 26 that the store’s safe, containing almost $3,000 in cash and checks, had been stolen. The money in the safe included cash for the store register as well as deposits and receipts from Jan. 21–23.
Because the outlet is closed Sundays and Mondays, store manager Tara Nichols said, the theft probably occurred sometime between Saturday evening and Tuesday morning. There was no sign of forced entry, and Nichols said someone might have rigged the door from the inside before the store closed on Saturday in order to gain access after hours.
Employees have always been extremely careful about security, Nichols said, but they are going to “reevaluate policy and procedures.”
She added that the theft was devastating to both finances and morale, moreso because it came after a “great, wonderfully busy day” on Saturday.
The store sells donated and recycled building materials, appliances and furniture at discounted prices and uses the proceeds to fund Habitat for Humanity’s building projects.
And while morale might be low, the store is still taking donations, making sales and conducting business as usual. “It’s a setback,” Nichols said, “but it’s not going to stop us from doing our job.”
