(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -On Sunday, July 8th, 2018 a man walked right into the Zips Drive-In on Northwest Blvd. The man in green shorts and a black tank top spends a moment inspecting the donation jar. He then grabs it and walks out of the drive-in without looking back.
Those cash donations the man took were meant for helping children with developmental delays and disabilities from the time they are born until three years old and every penny donated to the school counts "It’s a huge benefit for us, and it's a wonderful program and a great partnership that we are thrilled we get to have," said Spokane Guilds’ School Development Director Korin Michielli.
Since the Guild School is a non-profit organization, they heavily rely on donations from the public. Nearly 40% of their funds for the school are raised through donations. Even with a theft like this it still hurts the school. "It’s really disheartening that somebody would do that. We like to be called the penny people. The penny drive is kind of what we're known for in our community and those pennies add up obviously $90,000 over 18 years. When people make donations to the Guild School, people put their money, their well-earned money hardworking money into that container. So yeah it hurts and sucks. Not a good feeling," said Michielli.
Zips and Spokane Guilds' School would like the person who took the donations to return them "It would be great, and I would encourage that person to dig a little deeper," added Michielli.
If you'd like to donate or volunteer with the Spokane Guilds' School Foundation, click here.