Unfortunately, auto theft doesn’t care whether the victim “deserves” to lose their vehicle. A recent example is Cheryl, an 80-year-old Portland woman who was volunteering to feed the homeless when someone stole her 1999 Honda Accord — along with the dinner she’d prepared for her own family.

Cheryl admits, “Thanksgiving was pretty much ruined.”

She parked her car in her usual lot and locked her purse in the trunk. The Union Gospel Mission asks volunteers not to bring purses into the church. After serving Thanksgiving meals, she walked back to her Accord. It was gone.

“I was just shaking, and I thought, ‘Oh no. All my Thanksgiving. Everything’s in here.’” She had prepared all the side dishes for her family’s holiday meal and left them in the car. “I feel so violated.”

Thieves nabbed dinner, charged $600 to credit cards

Even after she made it home, she didn’t know where to begin. “I came home, and I just didn’t know how to function. What do I do first? My ID’s out there and I’m worried about ID theft and just everything I could possibly think of — and where is my car and what condition is it in?”

Cheryl canceled her credit cards, but not before the thieves spent $600 at nearby stores. She called her son. They reported the car theft to police, then went to investigate themselves. “My son and I went into a couple places where they used my card, and they said the police will have to go and look at cameras to see.”

Her son wrote, “She’s worked hard all of her life and does not deserve this.” He set up a GoFundMe, and the community has contributed more than $3,000 toward Cheryl’s next vehicle.