ROCKWOOD, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Rockwood Housing Commission offers low-income housing for seniors. Some of the residents spend their free time growing fresh vegetables to be productive and share organic produce with fellow residents, but yesterday morning the community woke up to their worst nightmare.
"We had a rainy July, so everything just bloomed; these were massive plants. They were loaded, and now they are just gone. They came through, they took the pepper, and they broke the plants," said Mary Dowding, a resident and gardener.
Squash, beans, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, cucumbers, and more; Dowding says thieves stole hundreds of dollars worth of produce.
"Why would somebody do that to us? I put so much work into this and I don't understand the mentality why someone would come and take... you there is a lot of hard work we put into this," said Dowding.
Dowding has been working on these gardens for six years, four hours per day, all self-funded.
"I'm a vegan, so this is my food for the year, I freeze things up, we harvest these, and we dehydrate, and I make sauces out of my tomatoes and peppers, so yeah, this would have lasted me stuff going into the winter," said Dowding.
Now, Mary and other residents only have one option: purchase produce from stores, with money they don't have.
"It's so selfish," said Dowding.
Meanwhile, Dowding has a message for the thieves.
"I would like to come forward. I mean if you were hungry, I would have given you food. I mean I give a lot of access to my friends here. I would never turn somebody down if they had said they are hungry, could we have some of your vegetables? Absolutely," said Dowding.
The Rockwood Police Department says the investigation is underway, and they hope to catch the culprits soon. Meanwhile, Mary has put up a sign letting folks know it's a private garden. If you have any information about this incident, please contact the police.
