Canadian Cancer Society’s annual daffodil campaign suffered a blow last week when 17 donation boxes were stolen – all from stores in New Westminster.
The April-long campaign raises funds for a number of programs organized by the society, including the volunteer driver program, which provides free rides for cancer patients, and Camp Goodtimes, a children’s camp for those battling cancer.
Since it’s inception five years ago, New Westminster has led the pack for highest number of donation boxes in one community. This year there were 79 boxes in New Westminster, but that was until someone stole more than a dozen of them.
According to police, a man in his 50s, who appeared to be of First Nations descent, about 5’8” with a heavy build and long black hair, walked into several businesses in the city and stole the donation boxes.
Bosley’s Pet Food at Columbia Square was one of the businesses that had its daffodil donation box stolen. Owner Karima Jivraj said she was shocked that someone would steal from a charity.
“I think it’s just wrong for somebody to come in and steal, especially from a charity,” she said.
Jivraj said the suspect entered her store on Easter Monday, walked around the front counter and took the donation box. Once she realized he had made off with the box she called the police.
“I was mad, I was angry,” she said. “You don’t steal from a charity. If you need help, ask for help, don’t steal from a charity.”
While the Canadian Cancer Society is reporting that 17 boxes have been stolen in New Westminster, only three cases have been reported to police and investigators are hoping more business owners will step forward.
Jivraj has participated in the annual daffodil campaign since she opened shop. The campaign aims to raise money for the many programs organized by the Canadian Cancer Society, while showing support for people with cancer by wearing the iconic daffodil on your lapel.
“The area where we have the highest concentration of boxes is in New Westminster and the reason for that is that we have some really dedicated volunteers in that area who have taken on this project,” said Ron Kuehl, vice-president of development and marketing, Canadian Cancer Society, B.C. and Yukon.
This is only the second time since the daffodil campaign began that donation boxes have been stolen, Kuehl said.
He said he doesn’t expect the recent theft to impact business owner’s willingness to participate or residents’ donations. The campaign wraps-up on April 30 and Kuehl hopes that people will continue to donate through the society’s website to make up for the stolen donations.
As for Jivraj, the recent theft won’t stop her from participating in the annual fundraiser – she had already put the recovered box back out when The Record spoke to her on Monday.
“I put it back out but I put in different measures. We’re going to zap-strap them to the counter and we’re going to take the money out every night,” she said. “When I opened my store, my goal was to become a part of the community and being part of the community means doing fundraising, helping out where I can, doing things for the community, and this is just all part of it, so it’s not going to stop me from doing it.”
To donate to the Canadian Cancer Society, visit www.cancer.ca/en.
Anyone wanting to report a similar theft or with information on the identity of the suspect is asked to contact Const. Nis Schmidt at 604-525-5411.
