Thieves ransack homeless nonprofit's trailer in Southern California

A Southern California nonprofit that serves hot meals and coffee to homeless people is asking for help after thieves ransacked their storage trailer.

Project Coffee Cup serves the unhoused in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Founder Jacob Baruch said his nonprofit's trailer was recently parked in an overnight lot in Santa Ana. When Baruch and his team returned, they found that someone had broken into it and stolen nearly all of the equipment they needed for their outreach work. 

"Tables that I have accumulated over time were stolen," Baruch said. "They took our canopies, which are where we create shade for people to sit."

The thieves stole nearly $10,000 worth of equipment and supplies, including utensils, coffee burners and hygiene kits. Baruch said he couldn't report it to the police. 

"We wanted to keep that safe space and people to trust us — people who may be undocumented, domestic violence (victims) or have some type of issues they don't want to be on camera or exposed," he said. 

Baruch launched Project Coffee Cup due to the financial struggles his family faced while growing up in Compton.

"We were like broke. We had no money," Baruch said in 2019. "It just so happens that this homeless man was walking by, and out of nowhere handed my mom $20 ... And ever since then, I've never judged a homeless person."

He uses a cup of coffee as an icebreaker and to bring comfort to the unhoused who visit his team's outreach events. However, without their equipment, Baruch admits that it has been challenging to continue serving his clients, but vowed to continue.

"It's hard to encourage someone who has given up on themselves, and we see them, we want to be the cheerleader and let them know there is a better quality of life. 

A GoFundMe has been launched to help Project Coffee Cup raise money to replace the items stolen by the thieves.