Crime in Chemainus has hit a new low, as a small amount of collection money was stolen from the United Church.
The person or people broke in and gained access to the church office by cutting a hole in one of the walls and many people in the community believe those responsible were targeting money from the Ken Lavigne concert earlier in the day.
That money was not in the office and Reverend Pieter le Roux said because of an electronic payment system, there wasn’t much money collected.
“It’s generally just a monthly deduction and that comes off right from someone’s bank account,” said le Roux. “It’s wonderful because it takes away working with money, handling money, it’s a great system. We feel that having come through this experience, we want to encourage people to start doing that and have the money move that way.”
The reason it was only a small amount of money was that most of the church-goers make their donations online and le Roux said he’s hopeful those responsible can get to a better place in their lives.
“We’re praying for them and hoping that whatever their situation might be that they find some way of getting to a better place,” said le Roux.
le Roux is asking anyone with information about this incident to come forward by calling the church office at 250-246-3463, or either the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment at 250-748-5522 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
