Just hours after Christmas day, three suspects burglarized the Golden Triangle Dream Center warehouse, stealing thousands of dollars worth of materials that were meant for building beds for local children.

What could have been a setback has turned into a blessing with the support of community members determined to keep the nonprofit’s mission on track, founder John Almond said.

“We are already being made whole without even filing an insurance claim,” he told The Dispatch. “We’re going to be OK, and we just thank God for this wonderful community that continues to make the Dream Center a reality and helps us to do so much good for the children.”

The warehouse, located on Old Tibbee Road, was broken into Dec. 26 at about 1 a.m., West Point Police Investigator John Michael Lay told The Dispatch. Separate from the Dream Center’s offices, the warehouse is dedicated to the Bedz4Kidz program, which builds and delivers beds to children in need.

“They stole us blind,” Almond said. “They took every single thing we need to place the beds for the children. … Everything that they could easily and quickly sell or pawn was stolen.”

Roughly $7,000 worth of bed-building materials were taken, Almond estimated, including batteries, a mattress, an air compressor and two $1,100 generators.

Lay said security camera footage showed three men arriving in what appeared to be a 2001 to 2007 green Chrysler or Dodge minivan.

Police are continuing to look for the vehicle, but there are currently no other leads, he said.

The incident was disheartening for staff and volunteers, Almond said, especially so soon after Christmas. Inside the warehouse, there was a branded trailer loaded for an upcoming delivery of 19 beds, he said.

“There’s no question that they knew exactly who they were stealing from the day after Christmas,” he said. “That just tells us these men, they’re in a bad way. Whether it’s drug related or a hopeless poverty, they’re in a very bad place. That’s the heartbreak.”

But that’s only the bad news, Almond said. Since then, community members have stepped up, offering to purchase new materials.

Everything that was stolen has already been covered, he said.

“We’ve been given assurances from various community members that, ‘We’re going to love on the Dream Center. All those stolen items are going to be replaced,’” he said. “It’s just wonderful.”

Almond hopes to meet the three suspects eventually. He has his own ideas about how they can serve time for the burglary.

“Maybe they can be sentenced to community service at Dream Center,” he suggested.

McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.