On Thursday morning (May 26), a delighted Gurpreet Mahil was waiting with a thank you cake for some new computers and a wide-screen television to arrive at Langley Secondary School.
The four new Macs and the television would replace the ones stolen last month from the special needs classroom where Mahil teaches.
Someone smashed in a window and used cutters to chop the theft prevention cables attached to the four iMacs and the Toshiba flat screen TV, escaping before police, alerted by the theft alarm, arrived.
It was the second time advanced computers were taken from the classroom and the second time that public-spirited donors stepped in to replace them.
The first theft occurred last December when someone forced open a door and stole the Macs and television purchased with money raised by the students.
When word got out, Langley London Drugs quickly donated replacements and Homelife Benchmark Realty Ltd. contributed funds, only to see the theft repeated four months later.
This time, Canadian Direct Insurance, Telus and Best Buy stepped up.
So did Surrey company Robber Stoppers, contributing metal bars, shutters and shatter-proof glass for the classroom windows.
“We don’t want it to happen again,” Mahil said, surrounded by students and school staff who prepared a buffet with appetizers and the cake for the donors.
They called it a “restoration celebration” and they applauded as the donors arrived bearing the computers, television and the equipment to hook everything up.
Members of the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team showed up with game tickets for the students.
