The lawnmower recently stolen from Brunswick’s Independence Association. Pictured is Jimmy, an association client. Courtesy of Independence Association
The executive director of Brunswick’s Independence Association this week appealed to the person or people who stole a commercial lawnmower and trailer from the organization’s headquarters over the weekend.
“If they’re reading this, know that you stole from a nonprofit agency that supports people with intellectual disabilities,” Ray Nagel said. “If they brought (the equipment) back, we wouldn’t press charges.”
Nagel said the association, which has provided programming, employment opportunities and housing to people with intellectual disabilities in the Brunswick area since 1966, will likely be out a few thousand dollars if they have to replace the equipment.
The red Gravely ride-on lawnmower and 12-foot black steel trailer with wooden rails were stolen sometime Sunday from the association’s headquarters on Industrial Parkway.
“It’s really egregious,” Nagel said. “Whoever stole the equipment was stealing from probably our most vulnerable citizens.”
Nagel said the mower was used to cut grass at the association’s properties in Brunswick, Bath and Freeport, which include 12 group homes and the Spindleworks art center. The trailer was used to haul the mower, along with other maintenance equipment.
He said the cost of a new mower and trailer would be about $9,000 and $3,000, respectively. He said the association will have to wait 30 days for its insurance to cover the cost of replacing the equipment and that it would be out a few thousand dollars with deductible payments and depreciation factored in.
“It’s not as if we have a lot of money,” he said, adding the association would welcome donations to help cover the costs of replacing the equipment. “We operate on a shoestring budget.”
He said the organization is looking to rent out equipment in the meantime.
“It’s just a shame that the thieves would have picked an agency like this,” he said.
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