MIAMI – A South Florida church is rebuilding just in time for the holidays after it was hit with both vandalism and theft on several different occasions.
The repairs are coming just in the nick of time as the Purple Church Miami is getting to celebrate its annual Winter Wonderland event.
“Very tough road getting here,” said church business manager Victoria Bonitto.
Back in November, Local 10 News reported on 19-year-old Marie Falconer, who was accused of vandalizing the church, destroying inflatable decorations and smashing nearly every window and door.
“I was shocked because I never thought nobody would vandalize a church,” said groundskeeper Gregory Talton. “We’re trying to do everything for the community.”
The teen allegedly racked up $10,000 in damage.
The church would be hit again soon after, but this time it was robbed of larger inflatable decorations.
“It has been very challenging getting to this point,” said Bonitto. “But we’re here, nevertheless.”
Bonitto said overall, the church has had three separate incidents where someone attempted to ruin its joy, with the church losing in total about $16,000 between the incidents.
“What we’re doing here is bigger than what we lost,” said Bonitto. “Whatever we do for good will surpass whatever was done for evil.”
Through the challenging times, volunteers pushed forward to pull off the event, putting in hundreds of hours.
Police say they are still looking for a suspect in that third incident.
Still, even through these trying times, the joy of Christmas is all around the church.
Winter Wonderland Miami runs through Dec. 31.