LACKAWANNA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Spilled hot sauce and ketchup, sugar, graffiti, and a mess is what members of the Lackawanna Sports Club say they found Friday morning in the team’s storage room.
Owner Darrell Glover and his fiance Michele Bennett were holding back tears as they surveyed the damage.
"A lot of sadness and heartache I mean we do put everything into this," Bennett said.
"We put in not just normal volunteer hours but our hard earned money put in time to get camps going," Glover said.
Bennett and Glover say someone stole sports equipment, and sprayed painted vile images on the kids' stuff.
"To walk in and see this...tears don’t even explain how we feel because this did take years to build," Glover said.
"Anytime something goes on with the club it takes all of our hours to do this this isn’t something that you do for a couple of hours and you’re done," Bennett said. "We’re at the field here every Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 at night."
The group is 100 percent donation-funded and volunteer while serving as an outlet for community kids and families.
"We have a little kid our here who wants to show coach, 'look how much better my throw is look how I’ve been working,' and he’s so excited about that and when these kids come together on a team, or in a group situation they’re creating lifelong ties that will keep them to the community, and that's how you build a community," Bennett said.
Now they’re cleaning up the mess and picking up the pieces, saying nothing will discourage them from moving forward.
"They may have put a pause on what we do but we’re going to keep doing what we do for the kids," Glover said.
If you would like to make a donation, you can visit their website here.
