Donation bin stolen from Conn. holiday decoration house display

All over the holiday getaway period, website visitors have been inspired to deliver donations to reward St. Mary’s East Hartford meals pantry.

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — The East Hartford local community is stepping up to support a neighbor after a “Grinch” appeared to have stolen a meals donation bin from an elaborate Christmas decoration screen.

The “Santa’s Village” display screen on Oak Road is home to a front garden full of inflatable decorations for the holidays. Richard Bollash runs the display and encourages site visitors to provide donations to benefit St. Mary’s East Hartford foods pantry in return.

Bollash shared photos to social media Thursday of wherever the donation bin earlier stood when it and the donations within vanished.

A rectangle patch of grass in the middle of the snow-lined garden and a weakened bin lid was all that was remaining.

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“Hardly ever questioned the energy until finally past night time,” Bollash explained in his publish.

Phone calls for extra donations were made Friday from Mayor Mike Walsh.

“Persons from all about appear to see the exhibit, and all Mr. Bollash asks for in return are non-perishable food merchandise or monetary donations to gain the East Hartford Foods Lender,” Walsh mentioned, and included, “Can you help us help you save Xmas?”

Guaranteed plenty of, the neighborhood arrived through. Bollash’s front porch had donations of food and paper items piled up on his entrance door and he shared the superior news Saturday morning.

“I actually experienced to go close to to the back doorway when I got house. The front door was rather very well blocked with luggage of meals and other items remaining someday overnight and this morning. Many thanks to everyone who is spreading the word and earning this a achievement at the time once again. Definitely would make all the effort really worth whilst,” Bollash mentioned on social media Saturday.

Meals and monetary donations can be manufactured at the property screen in advance of Tuesday, according to the mayor.

Leah Myers is a electronic content producer at FOX61 Information. She can be reached at [email protected]

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