Residents at a seniors facility in southwest Calgary are upset after a large television set that they all worked together to buy was swiped by thieves earlier this week.
A few days ago, people who live at Friendship Manor, on 33 Street S.W., woke up and found the 54-inch television, normally set up in their lounge, was missing.
“A couple of people heard them around 11:30 or 12:00 at night, but nobody thought to check, which is typical I guess,” said Shirley Cutting, who has lived in the building for 19 years.
The big screen TV was a popular item, allowing residents to watch movies, catch football or hockey games or just gather together as a community.
“It’s really nice. The guys love it, especially when the football games are on or the hockey games. You can’t get close or change the channel when the hockey game is on,” Cutting says.
Eva Mansell, who has lived at Friendship Manor for the past year and half, says people are upset that the TV was stolen, especially because the residents worked so hard to get it.
“We have a social club here that involves a lot of residents and they worked really hard to get that money because they saved pop bottles and milk cartons and make a run to the recycling shop and that’s what supplies our kitchen with all the coffee and stuff. They saved enough money to buy the TV and donate it to the lounge.”
Cutting says that it isn’t the first time the building was raided either.
“We had a TV stolen, we had a VCR stolen and we get stuff stolen out of the kitchen all the time, but that’s just small stuff.”
Paul Kane, property manager at Friendship Manor, says that it is a frustrating situation for everyone involved.
“We understand that it’s upsetting. Of course, safety and security is our first priority for us and for all of our residents.”
He says that the thieves were recorded on a surveillance camera and that footage has been handed over to police.
“We have been cooperating with the police and we’ve handed them the videotape. We will work with them as we go forward.”
He insists that Friendship Manor is a safe and secure building, but steps will be taken to improve security measures in the near future.
Cutting says she is shocked that someone would decide to victimize seniors in such a way.
“It’s disheartening when people come in and take things that don’t belong to them. You kind of wonder, why would they do that to seniors? We don’t have finances where we can just go out and buy new stuff.”
Calgary police say they are aware of the incident and the investigation is ongoing.
