Houston non-profit's storage unit robbed, jeopardizing Christmas for needy families

HOUSTON - The Grinch has hit several storage units, breaking into them in Southwest Houston and possibly stealing Christmas from some deserving families.

A local non-profit is one of the victims. It happened at Public Storage on the West Loop South.

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Christmas could be canceled for kids in Houston who were counting on receiving gifts from Fresh Spirit Wellness For Women after the non-profit's storage unit was one of several broken into at Public Storage.

In addition to everything from electronics and toys for the children, other valuables like donated sports memorabilia for the group's auction, were also stolen.

"If anybody has ever seen our toy drives, the kids walk away with big bags of toys because we want them to feel the joy of Christmas in spite of all the pain and hurt and trauma they may be experiencing. I'm very serious about the help that we give to these families, and this tells me there are so many people who are heartless who just don't care," says Dr. Conte Terrell, Founder of Fresh Spirit Wellness for Women, a group that helps domestic violence victims.

"They kind of ransacked everything. So it's a bit in disarray. This is broken. This is some of the auction stuff they did not get. This is an original Ain't Misbehaving record. This is Earl Campbell from the Oilers with Willie Nelson," Dr. Terrell explains while showing us around the storage unit.

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"We have the oldest founded female African American domestic violence agency in Harris County, and we have a lot of clients. The items we auction off help them with their light bill, their rent so they can stay safe, getting them into a hotel, if shelters aren't available. This is what we use all this stuff for. As a matter of fact, this refrigerator is going to go to a client. (And when you say client, this is someone who escaped a domestic violence situation. These are families who escaped serious violence and most of them are starting completely over?) Starting completely over and for the children many of their parents didn't escape. These are children who are now with a grandparent or aunt because their mom was killed," says Terrell, who's now moving the rest of the items out of storage.

She's hopeful to get more donations before next month in time to still play Santa and give gifts to the kids. If you would like to help, you may reach the non-profit at www.freshspirit.org.

There are lots of cameras all around Public Storage. Houston Police Department's Property and Financial Crimes Division is investigating after several storage units were broken into.