MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Vandals strike again, causing thousands of dollars in damage at a local food mission and leaving many who could use a hot meal without one.
St. Vincent de Paul runs the Ozanam Center on Monroe Avenue in Memphis.
And not even two months ago the mission was forced to shut down after some 40 windows were broken out.
It happened again Sunday night, and the crimes are disturbingly familiar.
“We’re very surprised, very shocked this would happen to us again, but we will be back up and running,” said Gloria Hyden, the president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Memphis.
Hyden was close to tears after finding dozens or windows broken.
Neither she nor the other volunteers at the Ozanam Center on Monroe could understand why vandals smashed 24 windows here, closing down the Society’s food mission once again.
“The first incident was October 10, and then we were able to reopen November 7. And here it is December 7 and we’re back in the same situation we were before,” Hyden said.
Hyden said almost all the new windows replaced after the October vandalism were smashed.
No one knew who committed the vandalism late Sunday night or, more importantly, why.
But the reality is people who depend on the mission for a hot meal will have to go somewhere else for now.
“We serve approximately 150 to 200 people daily, 365 days a year. They are homeless, the chronic poor and the working poor in the surrounding area,” Hyden said.
She said it would cost upwards of $5,000 to make repairs before the kitchen can reopen.
Till then, other agencies will have to take up the slack, but Hyden refused to let the act of disrespect change 25 years of community service by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
“We just wish somebody would come forward with some information to help get to the bottom of it,” she said.
Hyden said she is hoping security camera footage from the Ozanam Center and surrounding businesses will find the vandals.
Fortunately the vandals never got into the building.
Hyden said it could take two weeks to replace the broken windows.
Insurance will cover some of the expense, but the St. Vincent de Paul Society depends on donations.
If you want to help, go to the Society’s website.
