GLEN MILLS, Pa. - The community is rallying around a Delaware County cafe and non-profit that employs individuals with disabilities after they posted that someone stole several of their outdoor planters.
What we know:
Jim Vail, owner of Ryan’s Rise Up Cafe, says he named the business after his 21-year-old son who also works there a few days a week. The non-profit gives men and women with disabilities, especially those that have aged out of the school system, a place to work, learn and grow. It makes everyone that visits better for it—which is why the community is so frustrated.
Vail says just after midnight on Tuesday morning, their cameras showed a man getting out of a black SUV and stealing the cafe's planters. The video shows him pause, then go back for more. The camera then shows his vehicle back-up and leave around the back of the building, so it never captures his license plate.
What they're saying:
"Your initial response is you’re angry, feeling a lot of angst," says Vail. "I said, 'you know what, I can’t focus on what this situation is, the ugliness of this situation, I need to get back to what this is all about because that does not define us."
Vail says he posted the surveillance video on Facebook then got back to work. The community then showed up.
"I wanted to come down to purchase some food and also make a little donation to replace what was stolen," says Nancy Barker of Downingtown. "I just thought for anyone to have that happen to them, this place definitely should not be the place."
Monetary donations and replacement flowers poured in since Tuesday.
Kathy Ferro dropped off two beautiful arrangements after seeing the Facebook post about the theft.
"I thought it was terrible because they are doing good for the community and they deserve to have something as small as planters," says Ferro.
Vail says the situation only reinforced why their mission is so important. If the thief had stopped inside instead, maybe he would’ve thought twice.
"There’s really more to life and if you get the opportunity to come in here and see something that you’ve never had the opportunity to be exposed to, maybe that will ground you a little bit and refocus you on a straighter path."
What's next:
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the theft.
The Source: Information in this story is from a post on the Ryan's Rise Up Cafe Facebook page, an interview with cafe owner Jim Vail and community members.