COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — A trailer stolen from a Colorado Springs church is threatening a summer tradition that has grown from feeding 100 people to more than 1,100 in just a few years.
Security camera footage from June 4 shows a white Ford F-250 pulling into the Well Covenant Church's parking lot at 5:16 a.m. Two men are shown getting out of the truck, picking the locks. Footage at 6:01 a.m. shows both the trailer and the truck gone.
"They took everything, we had four different locks on it, including a boot and different hitch locks," pastor Amber Eaton said.
Amber and her husband Jim Eaton are co-pastors at the Well Covenant Church. To them, the theft carries consequences far beyond the loss of property.
"The hardest part is, we can't feed people and do the type of ministry the lord has called us to do," Amber Eaton said.
Every few weekends during the summer, the church hosts a BBQ every few weeks. What started as small gatherings quickly grew into events that brought several neighborhoods together.
"Our first summer, we fed about 100 people. Last summer, we fed over 1,100 people," Eaton said.
The menu went well beyond typical cookout fare.
"Not just burgers and dogs, we do pulled pork and brisket. We want to feed the best and do the best we can to feed our neighbors," Eaton said.
The Eatons filed a police report but had not yet heard from the Colorado Springs Police Department. After I provided the case number to CSPD, a spokesperson confirmed there is an "active and ongoing investigation."
In the meantime, the Eatons are asking the community to report any sightings of the trailer. It is black, dual axle, and 7 by 14 feet.
"The really easy way to tell that it's our trailer is that it has a very unique back end: it has a trifold door instead of a bifold door," Jim Eaton said.
The Eatons say they want the trailer back not only to continue their work but to honor those who donated the trailer, equipment, and food.
"It's not just us that lost the trailer, it's also the community," Eaton said.
The BBQs are not on hold, however. Connections Kindness Cafe and Closet, located down the street from The Well on Barnes Road, donated its food truck for the church's use this past Sunday so the summer tradition could continue.
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