Help! North Portland LL's Snack Shack Stolen!

North Portland Little League's snack shack trailer was discovered missing on November 11th. The League had been working on a plan to revive the snack shack tradition to take to various Little League games when the pandemic hit in 2020 -- a season that was cancelled. With uncertainty about COVID safety protocols in the 2021 season continuing to delay the return of the snack shack, the League was excited to make 2022 the season the snack shack would officially return. Now with the trailer being stolen, damaged and no secure place to store it, that plan is at risk.  After reporting it missing, the League received word from Portland Police that they found our trailer and told us it was behind a PGE substation in North Portland.



With that information, some community volunteers went to retrieve it. Upon arrival, the initial inspection revealed some moderate damage to the trailer (missing wheel and tires, damaged door lock, trailer jacks, and other cosmetic damages, etc.) Unfortunately, the retrieval ended up being quite problematic.

As the volunteers were driving away, they were confronted by armed men who ultimately shot firearms at the volunteers. Thankfully, nobody was harmed. We were ultimately successful at retrieving the trailer. However, further damage was caused to property as a result of that encounter that must now be repaired.

A few more details can be found below. But right now, we need help from the community to revive this dream for North Portland Little League:

Repairs to and Security for the damaged Snack Shack Trailer and Truck (replace missing wheel and tires, damaged door lock, trailer jacks, locking hitch, replace stolen license plate, repair bullet holes, etc.)

$2950


North Portland LL Branded trailer wrap as a deterrent to future damage/theft attempts

$2000 (we'd love any business who does this work and sees this GoFundMe to reach out with in-kind help or discount)


Snack Inventory starter for 2022 Season

$500


Other In-Kind Support

Safe and secure storage of our trailer in North Portland (This would be a wonderful in-kind donation!)

A few more details about the incident: 

The snack shack trailer was located in a muddy field behind the substation near where Burgard Rd. and Columbia Blvd intersect. The volunteers went to the site and the trailer appeared to be abandoned, so they proceeded to hook up to the trailer and were getting ready to leave when a car started to come down the path to the trailer. They exited the area and soon after, a car pulled up next to them. Two men were inside the car and the passenger rolled down the window and started to yell at them to pull over and that the trailer was theirs. While this was happening they noticed the passenger of the car flashed a handgun at them. They continued to drive East on Columbia and the 2 men attempted to pull in front of them to get  the League volunteers to stop. As the car pulled in front of them, the passenger in the car fired 3 shots at the volunteers helping to retrieve the trailer. The volunteers were blocked and had to make contact with the other car to get away safely. Both the gun shots and collision to get away damaged the volunteers' vehicle. The police were contacted but no additional follow up is being pursued by the police department.

This incident has left North Portland Little League and these volunteers with repairs that are not in the budget.  Anyone who is familiar with community baseball and softball, know that the heart of any League are the tradition of activities that help build a family-friendly and community vibe. The League is trying to revive this tradition to help ensure a positive experience for today’s kids and for generations of kids to come.

Your help and support is greatly appreciated.






Photos of stolen and damaged snack shack trailer




North Portland LL's Majors Coach Anna Perez and several North Portland LL players brought home the first State Championship for the League last summer with the joint NPLL/Beaumont Softball Team


North Portland Little League Majors teams took 1st in two different brackets at the Wyler Invitational last year



 A photo of North Portland Little League volunteers participating in a field project