Life-size leopard sculpture among items stolen from garden at Valley Children’s clinic
Three times this year, thieves have burglarized a children’s garden behind the Valley Children’s outpatient clinic in Modesto.
They have taken gardening tools, sprinklers, a load of walnut shells that were to be used on a walking path and even two of the life-sized metal sculpted animals that adorn the garden, said Jessica Coleman, founder and president of Color The Skies.
The nonprofit is known for putting on an annual balloon and kite festival in Ripon that for more than a decade benefited Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera. The Ripon Chamber of Commerce took over the event but it hasn’t been held in several years.
Coleman said the children’s garden is her latest project.
“Valley Children’s really wants to keep kids out of the hospitals but they keep coming back with asthma or obesity,” she said. “The whole idea is to get the patients out there to learn how to grow their own food and teach them ... about eating better and being active.”
The coronavirus pandemic hampered plans to get kids working in the garden but they’ve been able to benefit from its bounty. Coleman said vegetables like eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and kale were bagged up and given to patients and their families as they left the facility on Pelandale Avenue, as well as to children in the Boys and Girls Club.
She said with schools back in session and restrictions on gatherings easing, plans are in the works to finally get little helpers in the garden.
The thefts, however, have been a discouraging setback.
Coleman said each time the thieves cut the fence around the 1-acre garden and take what they can, even the animal sculptures that are “a hit” with the kids.
A sculpture of a baby gorilla that once sat next to a sculpture of a mother gorilla was taken in February and a sculpture of a leopard that once guarded the fence line was taken in March. During the most recent theft last week, “They took our red wheelbarrow and loaded it up with everything they could,” Coleman said.
She said the Modesto Rotary Club had donated the items to replace those that were stolen during the previous theft in March.
Coleman hopes someone will see and recognize the stolen animal sculptures and contact police.
Anyone with information about the thefts can call the Modesto Police Department at 209-552-2470 or Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636.
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 7:40 AM.
