'Heartbreaking': National Sports Center For The Disabled's Bus Stolen, Used In Crime
DENVER (CBS4) - After being two days without a wheelchair-accessible bus, the National Sports Center for the Disabled is feeling the impact. The Colorado nonprofit's mission is to make sure everyone has an opportunity to enjoy all that Colorado has to offer.
"The look of disappointment on their faces was absolutely crushing today," NSCD CEO Kim Easton said. "Therapeutic horseback riding, rock climbing, kayaking, paddle boarding, canoeing ... all sorts of winter activities and skiing, so really any kind of outdoor activity we would do we can provide for people with disabilities."
Without the right vehicle, it cannot happen.
"A key piece of that is a wheelchair-accessible bus, and unfortunately on Sunday night that bus was stolen," Easton said.
The bus, spotted on surveillance video, crashed through the front entrance of BikeSource in Littleton.
"It was really upsetting to see footage of the van being used to commit a crime, but on top of that, that equipment is critical to what we do," she said.
It cost the bike shop three bikes worth $13,000 and even more in repairs to the building.
Easton says the loss to NSCD is hard to put a price on.
"Today as a matter of fact, we had a program for high need individuals who were all in wheelchairs many of them were in power chairs," she said. "Without that equipment we had to do a completely different program, which was incredibly disappointing to those participants who thought they were going to go to a lake and go paddling today. It's just heartbreaking," Easton said.
The nonprofit does not have the funds to replace the bus right now, they are asking the public to keep an eye out for the unique bus and to contact law enforcement with any information you think might help.
If you'd like to help out the NSCD, visit their website at nscd.org.