Police raise money to replace stolen groceries

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - Elkhart police used their resources to give back to an elderly crime victim Tuesday.

Several Elkhart police officers showed up at the apartment of Barbara Whitener, 72, in the 500 block of South Main Street to give her some gifts after her story had touched some of the officers that responded to a call with her last week.

"I was gone. I went to visit on State Street and when I came back I noticed my food was gone," said Whitener.

Whitener said criminals had entered her apartment on May 4 and stolen all of her food and soda. Living on a fixed income, the theft was a huge blow to Whitener.

Cpl. Jim Ballard responded to the call and was touched by Whitener's plight, so he decided to go beyond the line of duty to help her, Elkhart Police Department spokesman Sgt. Chris Snyder said.

"He just put the word out and a couple people that he knew put a challenge on it," Snyder said of Ballard's effort. "It became kind of a game of who was going to match who."

On Tuesday, Ballard and other officers from the department presented Whitener with gift cards she can use to buy groceries and a brand new deadbolt lock for her apartment.

"This was an opportunity for us to give back," he said.

"I'm in shock right now but I appreciate everything," said Whitener through tears after she hugged officers. "Everything is going to be OK now. I'll be able to have something to eat."

Snyder said that while police go to many calls, once in a while one will affect the officers so deeply that they feel compelled to help out beyond the normal investigation and assistance.

"Just because there are one or two bad people out there that go and do something as horrible as what this was, there's a whole lot more people out there that are willing to step up and do the right thing," he said. "We were able to get quite a bit of gift cards to be able to help her out for several months."

According to Snyder the donors involved, which were both individuals and businesses, preferred to remain anonymous.

Whitener told her she would keep the gifts in a safe place.

"I'm tingling because I'm happy because they stuck by me like this," she said.

Snyder said that the case goes to show the positive things that can happen when the community comes together to look out for each other.

"It shows how a victim can touch several different people and that the community can come together to work with law enforcement, our businesses, our citizens and the management here so that the victim is taken care of," he said.

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Source: The Elkhart Truth, http://bit.ly/2r2KTsx

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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com