San Antonio – A charity that works with pediatric cancer patients in the San Antonio area said thieves who stole thousands of dollars worth of toys for a holiday event knew who they were hurting.
B.I.G Love Cancer Care San Antonio Program Director Amber Woodworth told KSAT that someone broke into one of the charity’s storage units near Interstate 10 and Wurzbach Road and stole about 20 totes full of toys, worth at least $2,500. That was most of the toys the charity had gathered over the past year for its annual “Holiday Shoppe” event in December.
“They took from kids having a toy under their Christmas tree this year,” Woodworth said.
Several “My Chemo Fairy” dolls and book sets were left behind — apparently the only toy the thieves didn’t want. Small pillows meant to cover chemotherapy ports were untouched, and there were numerous signs in the unit displaying the charity’s logo and photos of child cancer patients to whom they were dedicated, including some who have died.
“That hurt me the most, was that they saw who they were taking from and still did it anyways,” Woodworth said.
The theft was believed to have occurred between Oct. 15 and Oct. 23, according to a San Antonio police report. Woodworth said they only discovered the theft on Wednesday after the manager of the storage location noticed what appeared to be a different lock on their unit and called her.
After cutting off the lock, Woodworth made the stomach-dropping discovery of the toy theft.
B.I.G. Love works with families all across Texas, but these toys were meant for San Antonio-area families. The charity typically helps about 50 to 60 families each year at its Holiday Shoppe, she said, with hundreds of children between them.
The families, who are all dealing with a pediatric cancer battle, are often “going through financial struggles, mental struggles,” she said, and B.I.G. Love lays out the gifts and lets families “shop” for them for free. The gifts are then wrapped and brought to their cars.
“It’s a great thing,” Woodworth said of the Holiday Shoppe. “And so it’s just horrible, two months away from the event, a big portion of that was taken from us.”
The group posted a Facebook message about the theft on Thursday, asking for help through donations or signups for a pickleball tournament next weekend.
Woodworth said they have already received about 80 toys since the post went up.
SAPD confirmed no one has been arrested yet, but Woodworth had a message for whomever the thief, or thieves, may be.
“I’m so sorry that you felt that it was okay to steal from kids that are facing cancer,” she said. “Everybody in life that I know has been impacted by cancer, whether it be an aunt, a friend, a relative. And to know that these babies are facing this being poked and pricked every single day to get better, and you took something that would bring them a smile this Christmas.”