TOLEDO, Ohio —
A south Toledo food pantry set up to help individuals in need is now locked up after a group of kids destroyed the items inside over the weekend.
Surveillance footage shows the group entering the Paws and People Pantry off Airport Highway and opening and throwing snacks at one another in the parking lot.
"I know it's here for people to take, but it's here to take when you need it, not just be goofy and smash it all over my parking lot," said owner Brooke Winkelman.
Winkelman said she planned to move the pantry to a more secure location eventually, but after Sunday, she immediately started making moves the next day.
"That just really moved up my timeline a lot faster than I had intended," she said.
Winkelman believes this wasn't the first time this group of kids vandalized her pantry, though. She says cameras first caught them smashing glass mugs and cups in the pantry.
"That was just more annoying than anything because now I've got glass everywhere," she said.
Then, she says they destroyed donations of milk.
"That is a good commodity to have in here and so the fact that they just took it and wasted it is very frustrating," she said.
People will now have to access the pantry inside Hound Haven, Winkelman's business on the same lot as the original pantry at 3440 Airport Highway.
Hours will be limited and it will be staffed by her until she can find volunteers to keep an eye out.
"It's just going to be limited hours that I'll announce weekly on our Facebook page. It's going to depend on my availability outside of my working hours," Winkelman said.
As for the kids, she says two parents came forward to identify their sons and apologize after the video was shared on social media.
"Both were very upset and apologized a lot and want to replace the items their kids damaged," Winkelman said.