KPTV - FOX 12Thieves nearly ruin local lacrosse fundraiser

Thieves nearly ruin local lacrosse fundraiser

Thieves nearly ruined a local fundraiser Thanksgiving night after stealing more than $1,000 worth of Christmas wreaths sold to support the Oregon City Girls Lacrosse Team.

The team is not school funded, but it is school supported, which means the club depends on fundraisers like their annual wreath sale to help girls pay for their gear and equipment.

So when 35 of their handmade wreaths, valued at $35 each, were stolen from outside of Head Coach Dara Kramer's home Thanksgiving night, you can imagine the team's disappointment.

"It was really just a big let down and it is so frustrating," said Kramer. "The Grinch stole Christmas I guess, ugh, who does that kind of thing?"

Kramer and her team spent most of Friday scrambling to figure out how to pay for a whole new batch of materials for wreaths that had already been pre-ordered by customers.

"I just felt so disappointed for the girls and for everyone who already bought one," she said.

But one phone call from a local charity changed everything.

"He just called me and said, 'I want to pay for everything that was lost,'" said Kramer.

John Canzano, with the Bald Faced Truth Foundation, heard about what happened to the team. He and the other board members with the foundation then voted unanimously to pay the full $1,225 dollars worth inventory stolen from the team.

"It was overwhelming, I never expected this and I am so appreciative," said Kramer.  

It's an act of kindness that quite possibly saved the day, one the team says they will forever be thankful for.

"It's a big relief to know the good out there in the world can balance with the not so good," said Kramer.

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