CLEARLAKE– Southshore Little League”s Snack Shoppe is closed indefinitely. On Sunday the league”s primary fundraising tool was hit by thieves for the second time this season.
This time, the culprits got away with merchandise as well as money.
Damage to the building and monetary loses have forced the league”s board to close up shop for good. It took very little time for board members to clear out the snack shop on Monday morning as most of the merchandise had been stolen over the weekend.
Apparently, the thieves entered the building after cutting the padlock from the iron security gate in front of the aluminum door. The aluminum door was then broken through and ripped from its hinges.
“It”s going to be hard for us to recover from this,” said league president Lee Lambert. “Every time this happens we lose a couple thousand dollars.”
Lambert said he suspects the criminals are likely adults. “There are a bunch of our boxes up by the fence at the old Taco Bell,” Lambert said. “They probably backed their car or truck up to the fence, loaded up all of our stuff and drove away.”
According to Lambert and other board members, the real victims in this case are the children of the community. Southshore Little League depends on revenues from snack shop sales in order to provide affordable rates for participating in the league. Revenues also allow the league to sponsor children whose families cannot afford the registration fees.
“We are the only league that I know of that is under 90 bucks to play,” said Lambert. “We know that we are serving an economically challenged area and the snack shop helps us keep our player fees down so more children have the opportunity to participate.”
Clearlake Police Department is investigating the incident. Anyone with information is urged to call the department at 994-8251.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
