Fundraiser money missing from box
Fundraiser money — almost $200 — raised by two different campus service organizations disappeared from lock boxes in the Lillywhite Building. The money intended to fund supplies for literacy and deaf education programs.
Valerie Donohoe, business manager for the department of communicative disorders and deaf education, said the money was raised by the National Students Speech Language and Hearing Association (NSSLHA) and the Deaf Education Student Association (DESA). She said these organizations raise money by selling food items.
“The whole idea of selling the snacks and the drinks and the frozen items,” Donohoe said, “is to provide a service to the students and faculty here in the building.”
USU Police Capt. Steve Milne said the money was stolen sometime between noon Monday Oct. 3 and Tuesday Oct 4.
Donohoe said small bills were exchanged for larger bills to prepare for deposit at noon on Monday. She said the money was put back in the lock box after the bills were exchanged, but the money was gone when the carrier went to pick it up for deposit the following day.
“The money was taken out of the money boxes, probably using some device such as a plastic knife, screwdriver — something like that — that would fit down into the hole and allow them to pull the bills out,” Donohoe said.
Donohoe said the money was probably pulled out by the plastic utensils available for students to use with the food they purchase for the fundraiser. She said new lock boxes will be installed to prevent theft in the future.
“We are taking, now, measures to prevent this in the future. We’ve mounted a camera for 24-hour surveillance, and we will be getting different lock boxes that are deeper and harder to access the money,” Donohoe said.
Sonia Manuel-Dupont associate professor and adviser for the NSSLHA said money is used to buy supplies such as books, writing materials and tutoring supplies.
“We use this as one way that we can generate funds to keep these programs going,” Manuel-Dupont said. “Most of the children that we serve are from low-income families, and they probably don’t have a lot of literacy materials in their home, so this gives them the opportunity to take things home.”
DESA also uses the money to support its program, Manuel-Dupont said. DESA organizes programs for the deaf community and helps prepare students for careers that interact with deaf children and adults.
Donohoe said the two service organizations need the funds to continue running. She said the money stolen was everything the organizations have raised thus far, and was supposed to fund the continuance of the fundraising programs. She said the donations are being solicited to make up for the loss.
“We’ve asked everyone in the building if they would chip in a donation,” Donohoe said, “to get us back on an even keel.”
Donohoe said it would be a shame to lose the program because of theft. The fundraiser has been ongoing for five years without any incidents of theft, she said.
Milne said theft has always been a problem on campus, and people need to contact USU Police immediately if they see any suspicious activity going on.
“We count a lot on the public for information,” Milne said. “If they see it call us right away.”
Donohoe said she hopes someone will contact the police with information that helps retrieve the money.
“We’re hoping that maybe there’s a student or an employee somewhere that might have any information,” Donohoe said. “(Or) perhaps overheard someone maybe talking about it — that they’ll come forward.”
– chris.w.lee@aggiemail.usu.edu