SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Salvation Army Sierra Vista Corps was vandalized over the weekend. Rocks were thrown at 11 windows around the building, located on Wilcox Drive in Sierra Vista.
Kristy Church, Captain of the Salvation Army Sierra Vista Corps, says members of their congregation arrived at the building on Sunday for the weekly services and saw the broken glass and windows.
“It's really heartbreaking knowing that we do daily meals and provide services to the community," she said. "It's just disheartening to see something like this happen.”
Nothing was taken from inside the building.
"One of the rocks that we found were about this big, and it landed on my desk,” Church said.
They bought materials to temporarily fix the windows.
“We had our church members, our staff, our volunteers that all showed up, because they heard about it and helped us board up the building,” Church said. “We don't want this to look, just unwelcoming; it just doesn't look right, it doesn't look safe in my opinion, when you look at something like this. So we want to make sure that the people that come to our building feel safe and welcome.”
She says the estimate they received to replace the windows is $11,000. They are waiting to hear back from their insurance.
"It is a large bill, kind of took my breath away, really,” Church said.
Leaving the nonprofit to figure out where the money will come from, but operating as they normally do.
“We don't want to halt any of our programs, that's for sure," Church said. "So whether we cut costs somewhere else, we'll make sure we can get this fixed and move forward.”
She says they are moving cameras to different locations, to give them better surveillance. Church says they are working on getting a better security system.
"We just have to be more vigilant in regards to safety of our people,” Church said.
She says they just want to keep serving the community.
"We have wonderful volunteers that show up," Church said. "(It) doesn't matter what happens, they'll be here to help, and we have our steadfast employees that will do anything and everything to make sure our mission goes forward.”
The Sierra Vista Police Department is investigating the incident.
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
- Download our free app for Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, Alexa, and mobile devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
——-
Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
