Maple View Farm Raising Money for Charities After Christmas Day Robbery

A local ice cream favorite is working to make up some lost ground for charity after they were robbed on Christmas Day.

The holidays are a time for sharing and giving. But unfortunately, there are some that see the season as an opportune time for taking.

Maple View Farm spent the lead-up to the holiday season collecting donations for two local charities: Sam’s Wish Fund – an organization that makes wishes come true for children in hospice care and their families – and the Masonic Homes for Children at Oxford.

On Christmas morning, Maple View Ice Cream General Manager Allison Nichols got some disappointing news.

“I was contacted a little before 8 in the morning,” she says, as she was expecting a wish for a Merry Christmas. “[I was told] your hand truck is at the end of the driveway, somebody’s been at the ice cream store, and you all have been robbed.”

Nichols adds as she was surveying the scene, while still wearing her Christmas pajamas, she noticed the thieves didn’t stop at stealing from the store.

“Unfortunately, when someone broke in, they not only stole from us,” she says. “They also decided to take our charity jars.”

The robbers were able to make off with the wooden box for donations to the Masonic Home for Children and three of the four donation jars for children in hospice care. The fourth was recovered after it had been pushed against a column and out of sight while employees were cleaning on Christmas Eve.

Luckily the donations had been collected several times throughout the month of December, but Nichols says there is no way to know exactly how much was stolen.

She adds the community has always been very generous in supporting the causes at the ice cream shop.

“We appreciate the support of the community,” she says. “The individuals that come out and support the ice cream store make it possible for us to stay in business and for us to give back to these organizations.”

Driving on that community support, Nichols says they will have a special offer in the coming days to attempt to make up for lost ground for the charities, after the robbery.

“Going through Sunday, January 11,” she says, “if you buy any large sundae we will give a percentage of the sale between the [Sam’s] Wish Fund and the Masonic Home for Children.”

The store is located at 6900 Rocky Ridge Road, in Hillsborough, and is open noon – 8 P.M., seven days a week.

You can also donate to the charities directly. Nichols says they have listed all of the information concerning donations on their Facebook page.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, the investigation into the robbery is ongoing.