Chicago church robbed of Christmas Day donations collected to help homeless people
Thousands of dollars worth of donations were stolen overnight from a Catholic Church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.
The holiday heist took place the day after Christmas at the St. Vincent De Paul Church in Lincoln Park on Chicago’s north side.
Chicago police said someone pried open a window using a crowbar early on Tuesday at Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. Once inside, they took money from the parish safe and the church’s donation bin.
Church staff came in Tuesday morning to find damage all over the building.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share some sad news… Unfortunately, both the Sunday and Christmas collections were stolen,” Father Christopher Robinson, an instructor of religious studies at DePaul University, said in a Facebook post.
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The Chicago church uses the collection for its community outreach efforts, including a soup kitchen for the homeless.
Father Robinson said the church lost its Christmas and Sunday offering collections, estimated to total between $9,000 and 11,000.
“It’s a big loss for the church. Christmas is one of our biggest days,” Robinson told WLS-TV.
The robbery is impacting many church services, including a soup kitchen which feeds the homeless three times a week, and education programs such as for arts and music.
No description of the suspect was immediately available, and Chicago police are investigating the theft.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
