RICHMOND, Va. -- A small Richmond-based nonprofit is asking for help from the community after their inclusive playground was vandalized earlier this week.
Since 2020, Tablespoons Bakery has been a welcoming space for all in the Westover Hills community.
When founder Elizabeth Redford went to check on the property Wednesday, as it was closed for the holidays, she found its outdoor playground in total disarray.
"One of the two play sets was taken out of the courtyard and was flipped on its side," Redford said. "The wheel was cracked. There were toys sort of shrewd everywhere. And then, in addition to just toys and pieces of toys being everywhere, clearly, things were smashed, we had a number of items just missing.”
Redford noted a small flag displaying the words "inclusion and belonging" was snapped in half.
As a small nonprofit, Redford says Tablespoons stretches a very small budget, and there is more than $500 worth of damage to the courtyard inclusive play space that was designed to be a true place of community.
Tablespoons and its larger nonprofit, the Next Move Program, provide job training for adults with developmental disabilities.
Their goal is to combat the 70 percent unemployment rate for this population in Virginia.
While the bakery has security cameras, Redford says their internet randomly went out between Monday night and Tuesday morning, so they believe that’s when the vandalism occurred.
Redford says she is in the process of notifying their bakers and their families about what happened at the place they consider a space of belonging and a second home.
"We're dealing with a population where this is going to be taken very seriously," she expressed. "It is serious, but they're going to be very sensitive to it in a way that maybe other groups of people won't be. And so having those conversations of, oh yeah, no, you are safe. This is a safe space. This is an anomaly. It's not fun, but we're going to get through it together. That's kind of the message that we're trying to share with them."
Redford says the team isn't looking to press charges, but they want to know why someone did this, and they would like their items back.
If you have any information you think could help, she asks that you reach out to them.
Tablespoons is also accepting donations to replace the toys and to get the inclusive play space back in working order for all to enjoy.
If you'd like to help out, visit www.thenextmoveprogram.org.
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