Four soup vans were damaged by thieves in Footscray following a street service the previous night.
Vinnies Soup Vans volunteers made the heartbreaking discovery when they went to use the vans on Monday April 4. They found the vehicles’ catalytic converters, which are attached to the exhaust, had been removed overnight.
These converters are relatively easy to remove and cost about $3,000 new.
The vans were also targeted two weeks earlier and two other vehicles were damaged. The fuel pipe line and the fuel was stolen from one, and another catalytic converter was stolen from the other.
While one of these vans have been repaired, there are currently five Vinnies Soup Vans out of action.
Vinnies Victoria soup van manager Melissa Walton said volunteers would continue to deliver the service, however it would be very difficult and some vulnerable people will miss out on a hot meal.
“We will still try to reach all our stops using the vans we have left operating, but won’t be able to carry as much food,” she said.
“We usually deliver nearly 2,000 meals a week to the western suburbs but this will reduce our services by 30-40 per cent.
“More than 100 people a night will be impacted, including families.”
While the damaged vans are at currently at the garage, Ms Walton said she is unsure how long the repairs will take due to availability of the stolen parts.
She said it was extremely sad that the service, which tries to support people in need, keeps getting targeted.
“It’s sad that we won’t be able to feed as many people as we normally do for the next few weeks,” she said.
“Finding secure overnight parking in the area has been an issue, so if there are any local businesses out there willing to donate the use of enough secure parking for a number of vans, that would be amazing and please get in touch with Vinnies.”
Vinnies has set up a fundraising campaign to help recover from the setback.
To donate visit my.fundraiseforvinniesvic.org.au/support-our-footscray-soup-vans/donate or call 13 18 12.
