A southeast Washington, D.C., recreation center was ransacked over the weekend, thieves making off with thousands of dollars in equipment and leaving a youth football team without the gear they need to play.
Fox 5 reports that thieves pried open a door to a storage facility at the Ridge Road Recreation Center and took off with new helmets, uniforms, shoulder pads and other equipment.
The total value of the losses is estimated to be between $7,000 and $8,000.
The Ridge Road Titans practiced on Tuesday without helmets or pads, and league volunteers are upset that the thieves would target an organization that helps kids.
“We spend a lot of time trying to find sponsors to get equipment and uniforms for these kids because we have a lot of less fortunate youth in our community,” Ron Hull, a parent who also volunteers with the league, told Fox 5.
For now, the Capital Beltway League is lending the Titans equipment so they can play in their upcoming games, but in the long-term, the team will have to replace the equipment they lost.
Donations are being accepted at the team’s GoFundMe page.
