DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (WTVF) — A theft of $14,000 in stolen equipment is especially painful for a Kentucky community after everything the city has already gone through. One man's making a plea for the people responsible to do the right thing.
"We're standing on the baseline of our little league field," said Jordan Dalton walking across the field at the Dawson Springs City Park. "Normal circumstances, this would be nice dirt and grass fields. There would be practices going on right now."
As director of the Dawson Springs Youth League, Dalton said he knows how vital it is to have youth sports in a community like Dawson Springs, Kentucky.
"This park is the heart of our community," he said, sitting up on some bleachers.
Dalton said for his hometown, it's a matter of getting closer to normal after what happened.
"It destroyed almost any standing structure in its path," he said.
Neighborhoods in Dawson Springs have homes damaged next to those now rebuilt after a devastating tornado in December of 2021.
Dalton said people found ways to bring hope to this place through what they did for the youth league. In came the donations.
"We received numerous items," he smiled. "It was ball bats, cleats, baseballs, softballs, pitching machines. The help and support and love that came in, it was amazing."
In another act of kindness, Kings Mini Storage in Eddyville offered up a unit to contain all those donations. Last week, Dalton went by and saw something was wrong.
"The storage unit had been broken into," Dalton said. "Everything was gone. It was just a bare concrete floor and walls."
Dalton said after the lock was broken on the unit, $14,000 in donated equipment was stolen.
The Lyon County Sheriff's Department is now looking for leads.
"It's about as low as a person can sink to steal from children," Dalton said. "They had to have known it was ours. There was too much stuff written on boxes to not know. If they're seeing this, they know who they stole from. They know what they stole. Give it back."
Even after the theft, there's still good to come from this. While Dawson Springs City Park isn't ready for games yet, the nearby Caldwell County Park Board has offered up a place for Dalton's youth league to play. New donations are coming again.
"It never ceases to amaze me, the generosity people are willing to give and express," he said. "The bad doesn't seem as bad because I know love will beat that."
To make a donation, reach the Dawson Springs Youth League at their Facebook page here.
