Thieves steal Sultan Food Bank truck

SULTAN — In the annals of local larceny, this one ranks among the low, perhaps on the same level as stealing urns from grave sites or bells from churches.

Sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, someone drove off with the delivery truck belonging to the Sultan Food Bank.

The box truck is used to bring food to town for the needy. In any given month, food is provided to more than 400 households in Sultan, Startup, Gold Bar, Index and Skykomish.

“My worst fear just came true,” said Calei Vaughn, who was raised in the Skykomish Valley and serves as director of the Volunteers of America in Sultan.

Vaughn and her fellow employees had a sinking feeling when they arrived at work on Wednesday morning.

Somebody had broken into the building. The truck also was gone. They knew it was too early for volunteers to make their rounds to pick up donations.

“People have the common misperception that it’s a business and this won’t hurt them,” Vaughn said. “We are a nonprofit and it hurts.”

Surveillance footage might prove helpful.

“We do know there was someone who shouldn’t have been there at 3:45 yesterday morning,” Vaughn said Thursday.

She expected the white truck to turn up the same day. It’s like a big rolling billboard with the words “Sultan Food Bank” and “Serving Upper Sky Valley” and “Volunteers of America” in bold blue letters on the side of the truck. There also is a phone number.

Vaughn said the 2003 truck is getting old and the food bank had been exploring lease options. The truck covers a wide territory, stopping to glean at supermarkets across Snohomish County and crossing into King County.

The problem is, the food bank is on a shoe-string budget and needs time to find an affordable long-term solution.

“We needed a little more time to put a transition into place,” Vaughn said. “Now we just don’t have the time or the money.”

The Volunteers of America distribution center in Everett has offered up a truck in the interim. The Skykomish Valley Food Bank and Town of Skykomish have made similar gestures.

“Our neighbors have really stepped up,” Vaughn said.

It is not clear how thieves got inside the building. There were no obvious signs of a break-in.

Sultan police took a burglary report Wednesday morning.

The food bank manager reported that a laptop computer as well as two sets of car keys had been stolen from the office and the truck was missing. It had been parked in a locked fenced yard that is shared with the City of Sultan Public Works Department. There is a sensor on the inside gate that opens for vehicles leaving the yard.

The last volunteer to use the truck reported it had been there when he left around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Burglars also hit the food bank in the spring. At the time, keys to two vehicles were stolen as were keys to the building. Locks were changed to the vehicles and to the building.

The food bank is at 703 1st St. It’s open from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Fridays.

The greatest needs at the moment are for volunteers, particularly from in and around Everett, to drive the truck that’s being loaned out of Everett, Vaughn said. Right now, people from the Sky Valley would have to drive to Everett to borrow a truck, pick up the groceries, drive them to Sultan, drive the truck back to Everett and then head back to the valley.

Someone living in Everett could simply pick up the truck, make the rounds, drop the goods off in Sultan and return the truck to the distribution center, she said.

To learn more, go to www.voaww.org/foodbank

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Southbound lanes on Highway 99 reopen after crash

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, blocked traffic for over an hour. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.