Volunteers 'very concerned' after Norfolk food pantry 'destroyed' hours before ribbon-cutting

NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk nonprofit pushed forward with the opening of a new food pantry in the Huntersville community Saturday, just hours after discovering the facility had been vandalized overnight.

Changing Lives 365 staff arrived Saturday morning for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new food pantry only to find it had been vandalized. Despite the damage, the organization went ahead with the ceremony.

A representative of the organization described the moment of discovery.

"Heading down Church Street to arrive at the parking lot, I looked over to my left and knew that our entire park had been destroyed," the representative said. " It makes me very concerned that someone could have that much hatred to wanna destroy something for the community."

Norfolk Police are investigating the incident.

Changing Lives 365 plans to begin serving the community Monday.

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