‘A nice response’: Belleville ministry gets donations to replace stolen Christmas toys

A ministry operating through the Faith Baptist Church in Belleville has been cleaning up and receiving donations to replace Christmas toys stolen during a burglary.

Volunteers at Law & Grace Ministries at 428 E. A St. discovered the break-in Tuesday morning.

Items missing include several dolls, board games and toys, Detective Sgt. Mark Heffernan of the Belleville Police Department wrote in an email Wednesday.

Margret Shankle, who is the pantry coordinator at Law & Grace, said it was hard to tell how much went missing because she did not record it beforehand. She estimated less than $300 worth of goods was stolen.

Law & Grace also runs a food pantry that Shankle estimated serves between 5,000 and 6,000 people each year, though no food was stolen.

There had been another break-in three years ago, she added.

Shankle said the organization has been getting many donations since the burglary. She said the donations have been “a nice response from the public.”

One person gave a $100 check Wednesday morning, and another gave a plastic bag with a puzzles from the movie “Frozen” and a toy helicopter.

A teddy bear and a box of food was one of the first new donations. Shankle, who knows the woman personally, was touched by the gift, as she knows it was “probably a sacrifice to her.”

One man said his 6-year-old son wanted to donate some of his toys to the organization, Shankle said. Law & Grace accepts gently-used toys. Later, she scheduled a drop-off from a man who called to pledge 65 new “Star Wars” toys that he was going to sell online.

Although immediate public donations have been spontaneous, Shankle suggests calling Law & Grace at 618-235-6977 to schedule donations so she can make sure a volunteer will be present.

Anyone in St. Clair and Madison counties can get items from the Law & Grace, and the group still has lots of men’s and women’s coats available.

Shankle was surprised by the way someone broke into the building. The person entered a small storage room through a frosted-glass window, which is high and measures about 14 by 31 inches. Inside, a shelf cuts the entry point in half.

Shankle said there was a little blood left on the floor, but Heffernan could not comment on evidence.

Broken glass was still on the storage room floor Wednesday and the window was boarded up.

The group has scheduled a new gift giveaway at 10 a.m. to noon Friday. Law & Grace wants the gifts to be a surprise to children so the ministry asks that families do not bring children to the toy giveaway Friday. However, parents must bring proof that they have children.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 7:00 AM with the headline "‘A nice response’: Belleville ministry gets donations to replace stolen Christmas toys."