Person spotted removing bags from a donation box in Mississauga

A person was seen removing donations from a Diabetes Canada box.

The incident happened at the Canadian Tire parking lot at Mavis Road and Dundas Street in Mississauga on Sept. 18.

A video sent to insauga.com shows a woman quickly jumping out of the passenger side of a white Chevrolet car and grabbing two bags left outside the Diabetes Canada donation box at the edge of the parking lot.

The woman then places the bags in the car and appears to notice she is being recorded. She gets back in the car and the driver drives away.

insauga.com is not posting the video as it clearly shows the licence plate of the vehicle and it is unclear if the woman is stealing the bags or simply returning to pick up bags she left accidentally.

It is also possible she works for Diabetes Canada. Repeated attempts to find out more from Diabetes Canada failed.

And Peel Regional Police say they didn’t receive a theft report for this incident as of Sept. 19.

Thefts from charity donation boxes aren’t new. Back in 2019, Diabetes Canada announced its bin designer and manufacturer, Rangeview Fabrications, was removing an anti-theft mechanism.

Several people died in different charity donation boxes across Canada before 2019.

Funds raised through Diabetes Canada clothing donation bins have played a key role in supporting the organization for more than 20 years.

Donations of clothing and small household items via bins or home pickup service provide about $4 million annually for diabetes research. The fundraising also helps kids with type one diabetes go to summer camp.

And about 100 million pounds of textiles are diverted from landfills through the donation program.

For more information, see the Diabetes Canada website here.