A theft occurred at Portage's Youth for Christ Youth Unlimited (YFC-YU) location. 

Executive director Art Schroeder says the stolen items were integral to their program events each summer.

"We went into our shed the other day and realized that we had been robbed," says Schroeder. "Someone broke in and stole two generators, ten bikes, and a Stihl backpack leaf-blower."

He notes the value is estimated to be about $4,500.

"Every summer, we run summer programming," continues Schroeder. "We take students that we work with on bike trips. Many of the students we work with don't have bikes. A few years ago, we were able to get 10 new bikes through the JumpStart program. Most of those bikes are all missing now. The generators were used for our bouncy castles when we didn't have access to hydro. The loss of these items will definitely impact some of the programs that we offer"

Schroeder explains they have to find a way to replace all of the items. The leaf-blower was used when they met at the skate park and various places where they did their skateboarding, to clean off some of the debris and stones.

He outlines some of their programs.

"We're just in the programming phase of our summer program right now. Every summer we run a summer program in the North End," adds Schroeder. "This year, we're hoping to run about four days there, and potentially some soccer camps in the evenings. We still have our drop-ins that run Mondays and Wednesday evenings and our skate night that runs Tuesdays. Currently, we're running some programs after school in the Willow Bay Area close to North Memorial School at our Door location. We are also running a floor hockey program out at La Verendrye School Tuesday evenings."

Schroeder notes if you see any of these items around town, notify the police, adding the police have already been contacted by them.

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