Items Donated To Orphanages Overseas Reportedly Stolen From Potong Pasir Store, Police Report Made

Five Bags Of Items Stolen After Being Left Outside Potong Pasir Store, They Were Donated To Orphanages

Singapore is known as a low-crime country where stuff left unattended in public can still be safe.

However, we shouldn’t take this for granted, as there are still cases of theft being reported.

Unfortunately, five bags of items meant for donation to orphanages overseas were reportedly stolen from outside a store in Potong Pasir.

A police report has been made.

Incident happened outside thrift shop

The incident happened outside St Isidore Centre, a thrift shop located in Block 120 Potong Pasir Avenue 1.

The store welcomes donations of pre-loved items in working condition, including clothes, shoes, bags, toys, books, kitchenware, household goods and electrical appliances.

Run by a man called Uncle Thomas, the store’s sales proceeds go towards running the Willing Hearts Orphanage in the Philippines, as well as orphanages in Batam and Bintan islands in Indonesia.

Store sends Thrift Boxes every week

They also send a Thrift Box every week from Singapore to the orphanages, containing food and pre-loved items donated through St Isidore Centre.

These items are sold overseas to help raise money for their operations, helping hundreds of children in the process.

Uncle Thomas, who’s 84 years old, told Shin Min Daily News that the Thift Boxes are sent every Tuesday, and members of the public will bring items to the store for donation before that.

When the store is closed, people can leave stuff for donation in boxes outside the premises.

Volunteer left S$600 worth of items outside store

Sadly, the unthinkable happened last Friday (6 Jan).

A volunteer, 57-year-old Ms Zheng Lijin, told Shin Min that she left five bags outside St Isidore Centre at about 3am.

Inside were newly purchased items, including clothes, toy blocks and cups. They were worth about S$600.

Before she left, she took a photo of what she had left behind.

Items donated to orphanages said to be stolen

Regrettably, that may have been the last time she saw the items, which were for donation to orphanages.

The next morning, she was told that they had all been stolen.

This caused her considerable distress, as she bemoaned that “the love from the public has been stolen”.

Police report made

Ms Zheng suggested calling the police, as the identity of the alleged thief was unknown.

However, she pointed out that there’s CCTV outside the store.

The police confirmed to Shin Min that a report had been made, and investigations into the incident had started.

Not the first time items donated to orphanages have been stolen

Woefully, that wasn’t the first time items had gone missing from the store.

Uncle Thomas told Shin Min that things had started to be taken away by people a year ago.

Once, after he left the store, three aunties were seen rummaging through the items outside.

He’d previously told them they could ask him if they wanted anything, but they said they didn’t want any charity.

He’s unwilling to call the police on them as they’re elderly, so he felt not much can be done about this.

The only thing he can do is tell people to try to donate items when the store is open.

Let’s hope the items will be retrieved somehow, as they were donated for a good cause.

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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Google Maps.