SOUTH POINT — A food pantry in South Point is scrambling to find a way to feed residents in need for the month of September after a break-in last month.

Michael’s Grace Place on Solida Road was broken into back in August and the thieves, who used a crow bar to gain entrance, made off with nearly $3,000 worth of meat.

“They took nearly a whole freezer full of meat,” Brenda Horan, director of the pantry, said. “It has put us in a bind. We’ve got some donations that have allowed us to replace a lot of it. But, there is no way we are going to be able to replace it all.”

The intruders also took electronics and clothing from the thrift store that is also a part of Michael’s Grace Place’s food pantry. Still, the stolen food is the most disheartening for Horan.

“They came looking for cash,” Horan said. “But, we were robbed once before a couple of years ago so we don’t keep much cash on the premise any more. When all they got was $20 they went for the next best thing and that was the food. It’s disappointing and it just hurts because that food is for the community and those who need it.”

Horan said the police haven’t found many leads yet and there hasn’t been any word on if they were close to an arrest.

“We haven’t heard anything,” Horan said. “They kind of think it may have been someone who used to work here because they knew exactly where everything was. But, as far as an arrest goes, we haven’t heard much.”

Horan is hopeful donations will keep coming in to allow the pantry to replace the stolen food, but she doesn’t believe the theft will effect subsequent months.

“September is going to be tough,” she said. “But, I don’t believe it should hurt October too bad. God has always supplied the food and we have faith he will again.”