Community support turns burglary into an inspiring event

Adult Services Camping and hiking trip 2015

On behalf of everyone at Abilities United, and particularly the campers, we thank the community for their outpouring of support to replace the camping equipment that was stolen from Abilities United in early April. What started out as a sad and unfortunate event turned into an inspiring rally of support from our broader Bay Area community.    We also want to thank the media who reported on this story  in such a compelling way that these dozens of people came forward with cash and inkind donations. 

 

Since the news broke on April 7th, donations have flowed in:

• $10,000+ in cash donations as of Monday April 18, from 30 donors
• Donation amounts ranged from $10 to $2,000
• In kind donations of tents, sleeping bags and pads, camping stoves and lanterns, and other camping items from 7 donors
• New donors from as far north as Napa, as far east as Danville, and as far south as Hollister, and many points in between!
• Existing donors including Palo  Alto Rotary, Palo Alto Kiwanis, Palo Alto Community Foundation, and individual friends

 

We received at least 6 media stories including the following local coverage:

 

Print

1. Palo Alto Daily Post with a front page headline on April 7th.

 

Online

1. Palo Alto Online (Palo Alto Weekly) online story and community comments on April 7 and 8th.

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/04/07/burglars-hit-abilities-united

2. Palo Alto Patch online story April 11

http://patch.com/california/paloalto/burglary-abilities-united-leaves-disabled-participants-without-gear

3. Mercury news online story April 11 http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_29753631/

 

TV News

1. NBC Bay Area 11 pm news story on April 7 http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Burglars-Break-Into-Non-Profit-Organization-in-Palo-Alto-374999411.html

2. KTVU Channel 2 10 pm news story on April 8 http://www.ktvu.com/news/119591822-story

 

 

Social media also shared this story with great results such as:

o  Facebook reach of 1,500  people (KTVU news story) and thousands of others reached through the posts of the stories listed above

o  Nearly 30% increase in web traffic from April 6 - April 11

 

We will replace  the stolen equipment, buy the additional equipment the 40 campers need, and store the new equipment in a more secure location inside one of our building

 

Many thanks to all of you for sharing the story and helping to spread the word to generate this very positive outcome!