Amber Walker knew something was seriously wrong when she started up the Nourish Pierce County Food Bank van at the organization’s Tacoma warehouse on Southwest  Durango Street.

“It sounded like a Harley Davidson motorcycle, so I turned it off right away,” she said.

Warehouse co-workers heard the noise and together with Walker, they discovered someone had stolen the van’s catalytic converter overnight. Thieves had cut through the fence at the warehouse to get to the vehicle.

The theft in October created a serious problem for Nourish Pierce County. Its vehicles are used up to 200 times per week to pick up donated food from grocery stores and vendors. The pickups help ensure that Nourish has enough food for hundreds of people in need. food bank officials said. In fact, Nourish Pierce County has served more than 40,000 people and distributed millions of pounds of food as of the end of September.

Donations to help with the cost of repairing the van that was targeted by thieves can be sent to https://nourishpc.org/donate.

Originally FISH Food Banks, Nourish Pierce County is nearing its 50th anniversary. The organization is based in Tacoma.