Every Fourth of July, the VFW in De Soto holds its major fundraiser — selling fireworks to the community.
But this year, the annual celebration didn’t exactly start off with a bang.
According to members, sometime between late Friday night and early Saturday morning, thieves broke into the post’s shed and stole more than $1,200 worth of fireworks.
“We try to secure it at night. We put boards up at night, we have people who sleep out here in RVs,” Chris Ruff, the post’s senior vice commander, said. “For us not being able to replace [the stolen fireworks], that’s the biggest frustration we have.”
The post uses all of the proceeds to pay its bills, fund scholarships for local high school graduates and send veterans on the annual Honor Flight to Washington D.C.
“They are, in effect, taking money from the community,” Doug Bedford, a trustee, said.
Since the theft, the community has rallied behind the VFW. De Soto residents and friends of members have donated money and fireworks, helping raise more than $7,000 in cash and fireworks for a reward to find whoever is responsible.
“People have come to us saying we heard what happened, we wanted to make sure we came and donated some money to the post or they bought their fireworks from here just because of what happened. I think you’re going to get that from a small town and that’s what De Soto is all about,” Bedford said.
