The Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore home improvement store welcomes everyone, but officials of the local nonprofit draw the line at those with criminal intent on their minds.

The local nonprofit has experienced acts of vandalism, theft and dumping at its Wright Street location in the past six months, so plans are to purchase a security system with cameras.

“We did have two vehicles’ gas lines cut, and the gas was — from both of those vehicles — siphoned off,” said Kevin Pelkey, executive director of Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity.

Kelly’s Service, an auto repair shop on Washington Street, came to ReStore’s aid and fixed things for free.

“One of the repairs was not easy. But we did manage to get it done, and the grace of a local mechanic donated the time to put in the part that we needed to buy and put in,” Pelkey said. “One was a moving van that we used to pick up donations from around the area. And the other was a truck that we use for multiple purposes, including picking up things or construction-related items.”

Scott Hall is the manager of ReStore, which sells construction and home-related items. He recalled how the theft of gas happened the same day last fall.

“We had to scramble to try to figure out how to get those items picked up that day because both vehicles are out of commission for a few hours,” Hall said.

The Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore sells new and used furniture, appliances and building supplies at a fraction of the retail price. All proceeds support Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity’s work building homes for local families.

“We actually had to use a box truck from one of the real estate companies here in town they just had that wasn't being used, so we hurried up, went over there and got that to get out and get the items picked up from the people,” Hall said.

Pelkey said, “There was word that there had been several of these types of instances that took place in a very concentrated time period around the time this happened to us.”

ReStore provides quality building materials to the general public at discounted prices, prevents usable items from ending up in landfills, and increases the number of homes built with low-income families through Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity through selling donated items.

“More recently, we lost a trailer from out in the parking lot,” Pelkey said. “And it happened over the course of an evening or night, so obviously we didn't have anybody here. And, yeah, so now I have a trailer that I need to replace before this next season.”

For more than a quarter of a century, Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity volunteers have built 110 homes in Cass, Crow Wing and Hubbard counties, and the city of Staples, according to officials.

Pelkey also noted Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity has had trailers stolen in the past.

“And, you know part of me always thinks, ‘Well, if they needed it so badly, I wished they’d knock on my door and I would have helped load it,’ kind of thing,” Pelkey said. “It is very, very disappointing. It makes things difficult. You have to scramble, you know, to come up with Plan B, on a moment's notice.”

The officials said even though dumping of unwanted items at the ReStore building after store hours is illegal, the criminal activity continues to happen.

“The other day we had somebody drop off sleeper couches or hide-a-bed couches, and it's something that we don't take,” Hall said. “Ultimately they had to go right out to the dump, which cost us $10 or $5. Plus, one of our staff’s time to go out there.”

Officials plan to raise money with tax-deductible donations from the general public in order to purchase a security system with cameras to monitor the property and keep its staff safe.

“A local company has generously offered a very, very healthy discount to us to install a security camera system … as a preventive measure when people would see cameras … or as an identification tool after the fact,” Pelkey said of Digital Horizons in Brainerd.

Hall said the security cameras would cost about $1,500, and the cost to replace the stolen trailer would be between $1,500 and $2,000.

“An incident that happened last year was somebody lit our dumpster on fire, so the fire department was here overnight and put out a dumpster fire,” Pelkey said of camera monitoring.

Hall said, “Yeah, luckily it was far enough away from the building, but it could have gone up into the soffit. It was a pretty good-sized fire from what we were told by the fire marshal.”

How to donate

Mail a tax-deductible check with “Security” in the memo line to Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 234, Brainerd, Minnesota 56401.

FRANK LEE, county and features reporter, may be reached at 218-855-5863 or at frank.lee@brainerddispatch.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchFL .