Thieves steal $1,500 in toys from nonprofit that benefits western North Carolina

SHELBY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A North Carolina nonprofit was dealt a devastating blow this week.

Thieves stole nearly $1,500 worth of toys from Rescue Mountain NC that were slated to go to underserved children this Christmas.

“They took the entire pallet,” said Jennifer Fredell-Saucier, Rescue Mountain’s founder and CEO. “The entire pallet was gone.”

The donated toys were sitting out front of the nonprofit’s warehouse in Shelby, ready to be moved inside.

“I just lost it [when they were taken],” Fredell-Saucier said. “I called my husband. I was so upset. I was crying because those are not our toys. Those are children’s toys.”

Fredell-Saucier started Rescue Mountain last year shortly after Hurricane Helene pummeled the state. 

“My husband’s a state trooper,” she said. “He was working in the Asheville area, and both my kids were like, ‘Mom, we’ve got to help.'”

Fredell-Saucier said almost 2,000 kids received toys at last year’s Christmas giveaway, which made losing the donation this week extra painful.

“I took it personal,” she said. “To steal is one thing, but to steal from a child, to me it’s disgusting and evil.”

This setback isn’t stopping this year’s toy giveaway.

Fredell-Saucier’s goal is to help even more kids than last year, so she said every donation makes a difference.

“This does not hinder us at all,” Fredell-Saucier said. “If anything, it got me so much more pumped up than I already was. That’s what we’re trying to do: rise above the storm.”

Fredell-Saucier said the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft.

Queen City News reached out to them Thursday but didn’t immediately hear back.