Thieves burglarize SE Portland winery and swipe charity donations in the act

By SPENCER THOMAS

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — After a weekend full of giving and collecting charitable goods for local community members in need, Hip Chicks Do Wine, was broken into and robbed.

The Southeast Portland winery hosted its annual holiday market last weekend, collecting charitable donations for Esther’s Pantry, Cascade Aids Project, and Camp K-C, in exchange for free wine tastings.

FOX 12 spoke with owner, Laurie Lewis, who says when they returned to the wine bar the next day her space had been burglarized, the front door was destroyed, thousands of dollars in equipment was stolen, and all contributed donations right along with it.

“We spent the first couple of hours waiting for the police to show up, just feeling completely overwhelmed. I just wanted to sit down and cry,” said Lewis.

Adding, “the most important thing that they stole, all of the gifts that we had purchased for the family we adopted for Christmas via cascade aids project. So, it was toys and clothing and brand-new leap pad and all kinds of items for three kids, a four-year-old, a five-year-old and an eight-year-old so that part was very devastating.”

Lewis is hoping community members will lend a helping hand and donate once again to help replace all items that were stolen.

For those who would like to give monetary donations, you can Venmo her @Laurie-Lewis-52.

They are also accepting donations of clothing, personal hygiene products and non-perishable food items to their SE Portland location.

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