AUGUSTA — The door of a blessing box near the Augusta Independent School is missing.
The box is located on Second Street between the school parking lot and the sidewalk.
AIS Principal Robin Kelsch confirmed the door was missing, but said it looked as though someone had unscrewed it from the hinges.
“All of the hinges are still in place,” he said. “Nothing was ripped off, torn or destroyed. It just looks like someone may have removed the door.”
Kelsch said he had heard the door was sitting on the ground a few days ago, but had been unable to confirm that. However, he will continue looking into what happened to the door.
“I’m not sure what happened, but I’m working on finding out,” he said.
The blessing box was built by Shelly and Roger Dwenger and decorated by Alison Bach’s fourth grade AIS class in October 2017 after one was installed in Maysville. According to Bach, she and the students saw the impact the box had on the citizens of Maysville and wanted to do something similar for the residents of Augusta.
“Over the summer, a blessing box was installed in Maysville,” she said in October. “I moved to Augusta in the spring, but every time I would visit Maysville, I would tell myself I was going to donate to it, but I never had the chance. It was doing so well, and I thought Augusta could use something like that.”
The Second Street location was chosen due to the amount of traffic in the area.
“We decided to put it there, because it’s a high-traffic area,” Back said. “It’s a good location for the community and the students. You may have students who know they’re having a hard time at home and could use some of the items inside the box. They may not grab it in front of their friends, but they’ll know where it is and they can come back later to get it.”
In October, Bach said each year her fourth-grade students will do a service project around Christmas, as a way to remind them that Christmas should be about giving.
“I brought the idea to the kids and I reached out to their parents,” she said. “I do this to remind them that Christmas is about giving and not getting.”
According to Bach, the box was filled with non-perishable food, hygiene, and other necessary items.
Back said students painted the box with their hand prints once construction was completed.
