close
close

Rochester church trailer used in outreach programs stolen – ABC 6 News

Rochester church trailer used in outreach programs stolen – ABC 6 News

The day’s local, regional and national news, detailed events and late-breaking stories are presented by the ABC 6 News Team, along with the latest sports, weather updates including the extended forecast.

(ABC 6 News) – Rochester Covenant Church is on the lookout for its bright orange trailer, nicknamed Clementine, which was stolen from its parking lot over the weekend.

Members of the church arrived early Sunday morning to get ready for service, when they discovered the trailer missing from its usual spot.

“Yeah, we were shocked,” said Kristin Limberg.

Limberg, the church’s Director of Children, Youth, and Family, got the call a little after 7:30 Sunday morning.

“I got a call at my home, asking if I had taken the trailer somewhere as it was not here,” she said.

Limberg is often the one in charge of the trailer, which the church acquired back in 2021 to help with community outreach.

Filled with books, toys, games, and snacks, the church took Clementine to parks and after-school programs and other organizations across Rochester with the goal of bringing just a little fun to people’s lives.

“They have come in and provided programming for our kids that we don’t have the resources for,” said Julie Miller.

Miller is a board member for Friendship Place, a faith-based, non-profit after school program that provides what they call a “home style” service mostly for immigrant kids.

Clementine has been a crucial part of that work.

“Ms. “Kristin does a terrific job,” Miller said. “She’s very adaptive to whatever kids might be coming to the park and she has all those resources there. Without those resources she can’t be as adaptive. “You can’t put all that stuff in the back of a car, you just can’t.”

Not all is lost, though.

Rochester Covenant Church is still planning on bringing the fun, even with Clementine missing.

“We’ve reached a lot of children with this, and their caregivers, and we’re not going to let this stop us,” Limberg said.

They’re not holding a grudge either.

“We just gotta keep loving people,” she said. “And even though there is that anger and disbelief that people would steal from a church, we gotta pray for them.”

And regardless of if it doesn’t return, Limberg hopes what was inside the trailer will go to good use.

“What we’ve told the little kids that know about it is, our prayer is that what was in the trailer is going to be used by other kids that we don’t know.”

The church is asking that anyone with information, including potential video from nearby cameras or Ring doorbells, reach out to Rochester police.

The church’s normal Wednesday outreach event will still take place at the church from 10:00 AM to noon, sans Clementine.