Catalytic converters stolen from Racine outreach truck
RACINE, Wis. - A nonprofit in Racine is out of commission after the theft of two catalytic converters off an outreach truck. A local business owner who knows the value of working vehicles made sure they weren't down for long.
"You know how the thing is with COVID, we’re in this together? This whole incident really proved it to us everybody’s got our backs," said Lynn Nys, director of Giving to the Nations.
Giving to the Nations is a nonprofit in Racine that provides free hygiene products to those in need.
"We always just have enough for our current fills, and then the new requests come in, and it’s like, now we need more," said Nys.
The truck used for outreach was discovered damaged Sunday, April 25.
"We had actually finished up doing a hygiene giveaway up in Milwaukee County Friday afternoon," said Nys.
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Both catalytic converters were missing, costing $1,000 each to replace.
"It was like, wow, we just got back from giving stuff to 170 families," said Nys. "We just served 170 families on Friday, parked our truck, went home, came back, and now, we couldn’t take the truck out. It was just sad."
That’s when someone in the community stepped up to help" Herb Katt of Katt Construction, also in Racine.
"Racine is kind of a tight-knit community," said Katt. "They’re helping the community and I want that work to continue. I just hate seeing them hurting like that."
Katt paid the tab, and now, the truck is set to be back in commission Wednesday, and back giving out items like diapers, feminine products and cleaning solutions to those who need them most.
"I just hope that somebody passes it forward," said Katt. "You know, just to continue to help others in this community."
The nonprofit has experienced three times the demand since the pandemic started and Nys said they could use extra donations of hygiene products.
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