For the second time in six months on Sunday, the nonprofit Urban Tilth says its tool container on the Richmond Greenway was broken into and over $775 in tools and supplies were stolen.
The good news? It happened in Richmond, a community known to band together in times of need.
On Monday, less than 12 hours after reporting the theft, Urban Tilth, which hires and trains residents at local community and school gardens, with the aim of building a more sustainable, healthy and just food system, reported on Facebook that it raised enough money to pay to replace everything that was stolen.
Urban Tilth’s tool container is located on 6th Street and the Richmond Greenway, near one of the community gardens the nonprofit maintains. It was broken into despite “our welded on ‘unpickable’ lock,” the nonprofit said. All of the nonprofit’s hand tools, except its shovels, were stolen along with two wheelbarrows, all pruning tools and most irrigation supplies.
Urban Tilth expressed gratitude to those who contributed and said it is taking additional steps to secure the tool container.
“Now, we have 3 locks and will be getting cameras connected to our phones, internal container cable locks and locked tool boxes chained inside,” the nonprofit reported.
