Van stolen from Marion County Boys and Girls Club

SILVER SPRINGS SHORES, Fla. - The Marion County Sheriff’s Office is searching for whoever stole a van from the Boys and Girls Club in Silver Springs Shores.

“When they arrived onsite on Monday, they immediately realized that something wasn’t right and that someone had been on the property,” Boys and Girls Club of Marion County CEO April Savarese said.

Workers said thieves stole the club’s case box and of its most prized possessions, its van. The van used to run errands and shuttle kids.

“We rely on that van to pick up our snack every day,” Savarese said. “We participate in a feeding program.”

Savarese said the break-in at the club is so troubling because it’s located inside of a church.

“Not only were we affected, so was the church,” Savarese said. “To know that someone decided, made a decision to choose a church and a Boys and Girls Club really saddens me, but it also reinforces why it is so important for us to do what we do and why our mission is so important.”

A community member donated the silver 2006 Chrysler Town and Country van to the club, which struggles for money as a nonprofit.

Boys and Girls Club employees hope to get the van back soon.

“We are constantly looking for ways to fund our programs, to be there for the youth and expenditure like a vehicle is just not something that’s in our budget or in our means to go out and replace,” Savarese said. “So this is very devastating to us.”

If you have any information on where the van is, you’re asked to contact the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.