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Safe Containing Donations For Cancer Patient Taken From NH Day Spa

PEMBROKE, N.H. (CBS) -- Ripping someone off is bad enough, but ripping off people trying to help a friend who's fighting brain cancer? Some would call that despicable.

That's what happened in Pembroke, NH.

But it's not the end of the story.

"People here are amazing. After all this happened we got together and we're like, nope, the bad guys don't win here," says Holly Rodrigues, the owner of the Serendipity Day Spa in Pembroke.

She and her staff are raising money for Jaime Taylor Harper, a co-worker with brain cancer.

But everything changed over the weekend.

"They broke into my office, they broke that door, they stole laptops and daily cash," she says.

The thieves also stole a safe containing items to be raffled off to help Jaime.

"Gift certificates and Red Sox tickets," says Rodrigues. All their work was gone. "

That was all for her and for a good cause. So many peole had done such good things for them. It just hurts so much," she says.

As soon as they recovered from the shock, they started over.

People are stepping up, some businesses are re-donating and a Sept. 8th fundraising event is still on.

"Across the street had a surveillance camera and I'm looking into that now," says Pembroke Police Officer Jacquelyn Parker.

And since this is a rip-off of a charity, the crime takes on even more urgency.

"It's just an awful thing. And for Holly to do such an incredible act of kindness, to try and raise money to help pay the medical bills and so on and so forth, it's a bigger deal," says Officer Parker.

Rodrigues hopes the thieves will have a crisis of conscience.

"They can just drop it off here. I don't care if it's in the mailbox. I don't care how you do it. Just bring those things back. The rest of the stuff I don't care. The stuff for Jaime, that we care about," she says.

Rodrigues says the thieves got away with items worth as much as $10,000.

A safe containing donations to help a woman battling brain cancer has been taken in a burglary at a day spa in Pembroke, N.H.

You can still donate to "Kick Jaime's Tumor," the fundraiser is still scheduled at the McIntyre Ski Area in Manchester.

Donations can be made on the spa's website.

 

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