Just a week after opening the doors to its new downtown thrift store, office and drop-in centre, Langley’s Fibromyalgia Well Spring Foundation has become the target of thieves.

The non-profit organization, at 20631 Fraser Highway, was broken into in a smash-and-grab robbery early Saturday morning.

Although the thief or thieves managed to steal only about $35 in cash and a small amount of costume jewelry, replacing the store’s broken front window and installing additional security measures, to help prevent future break-ins, will be a huge financial hit to the charity, said Cheryl Young, founder and executive director of the Fibromyalgia Well Spring Foundation.

“We have worked so hard for the past three years to finally have our own space in a downtown location. And to have something like this happen so soon after opening, and especially on Thanksgiving weekend, is very upsetting,” said Young, who housed the offices of the foundation out of her mobile home for the first three years of its existence.

“It’s like the poor stealing from the poor.”

Incorporated in 2006, the foundation is still dependent on grants and donations to provide services to its members, who suffer from chronic pain and fatigue, forcing many to live on very limited incomes.

From its new downtown location, which is run by volunteers, the foundation is able to expand its services to include a drop-in centre for new members and provide additional support to its existing members who attend groups in Langley, Surrey, Abbotsford and Chilliwack.

If there is anything positive to be taken from the experience, said Young, it is that the robbery could become an opportunity for the foundation to make its presence known, and to extend to the community an invitation to stop by and see what it has to offer.

The public is also invited to visit its website is at www.fibromyalgiawellspringfoundation.org.

Langley RCMP currently have no suspects in the robbery.