Christmas gifts stolen at Larkin Center, others rush to help
The Fox Valley is making sure that the Grinch who stole Christmas presents intended for clients at the Larkin Center in Elgin doesn’t have the last laugh.
Word spread like wildfire throughout the community soon after Larkin Center officials reported someone had broken into a trailer on the property Thursday and stolen the Christmas presents inside.
The gifts were collected through the center’s Giving Tree campaign in which Christmas trees were set up at more than 50 sites all over the Fox Valley and Northwest suburbs and tagged with the wishes of hundreds of clients. The presents were being stored in a trailer parked in the 1200 block of Larkin Avenue — near the center — until they were to be delivered.
They were meant for the 60 children associated with the center and needy families. Not all of them were missing, but a “considerable amount” were taken, Executive Director Dennis Graf said. The Larkin Center has been around for 116 years and helps children with emotional issues and gives mentally ill adults the skills they need to live independently.
Donated gifts for the center’s therapists also were stolen and all of the gifts reserved for a group home of 12 boys are gone. There is been no dollar amount ascribed to the loss, but the gifts included game systems, MP3 players, athletic equipment and tools for therapists. The gifts that remained have been moved to a secured location fitted with an alarm.
According to a police report, someone entered the trailer by opening an unlocked window and cutting out its screen. There were no fingerprints left at the scene, which leads police to believe the thieves wore gloves. Police have nobody in custody at the moment, but continue to investigate.
“For so many years, I’ve always thought ‘The Grinch That Stole Christmas’ was a cute story,” Graf said. “Well, it’s taken on a whole new meaning this Christmas.”
The community, meanwhile, has responded in kind.
Larkin High School students took up a collection of a few hundred dollars, which they donated to the center.
The Boys and Girls Club of Elgin asked the Schaumburg-based company that donates presents to the club for needy families to lend a hand.
“We were thrilled when Intuit of Schaumburg was willing to share their gifts donation to the club with the Larkin Center,” Rose Reinert, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Elgin, said in a statement. “No child should have to face such a tragedy and our commitment to kids does not end with those that walk through our doors.”
St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in West Dundee has put up new tags on its own giving tree for the Larkin Center, along with a note about the theft.
“(We’re) hopeful that the people who will be there this weekend will respond accordingly,” said Ray Bellock, a Sleepy Hollow resident who helps with the giving tree campaign at the church. “At Larkin Center, these kids are battling enough demons. They don’t need an additional one. They need to see that people do care about them.”
On Friday, the Larkin Center’s offices continued to be flooded with phone calls.
“There was a tremendous outpouring from the community of people offering to come help out,” Graf said. “As sickened as we were by the loss and that someone would do something like this at this time of year, we were just incredibly encouraged by the outpouring from the community.”
If you would like to help the Larkin Center restore Christmas for its population, call Claudia Van Delinder at (847) 695-5656, extension 217.
As well, if you know who is responsible for stealing the presents, Elgin police ask that you call the nonemergency number, which is (847) 289-2700.