My apologies forum police for posting twice. I meant to post it here first. Does that read as bad as it sounds? I would hope so because it is. We all know that in the world of non-profit organizations every penny counts. Especially these days with corporate sponsorship, individual donations and fundraising efforts severely lacking or altogether non existent. Yes every penny counts so non-profit organizations can keep items free or at the very least be able to avoid increasing fees for participation. Stealing coroplast (corrugated plastic) advertising signs that a organization has on the side of the roads, which is public property, or in the school yards, which were all pre-approved by the principals, might seem a little trivial to some. Except it’s not, when each sign costs approximately $7.95 each and multiply it by about 30 that’s quite a chunk of change to have stolen. Yes, we knew that some would get damaged or run over, but really didn’t expect to have them outright stolen. Stolen we say because they sure have not been returned or left in the grass where they were posted. We also say stolen because other signs that were posted in the same area are still there. I'm curious so I have to ask, what was the reason for stealing these? Was it personal satisfaction they felt? Was it a thrill of maybe being caught? Or was it the fact that they might feel threatened by the advertising? Have we really stooped that low that we have to steal from an organization who just wants to provide sports of all kinds and levels to the children in the area? Whatever the reason I hope they know that it accomplishes absolutely nothing except proves the fact that they are thieves who are stealing money from a non-profit organization for CHILDREN. So unless this person or people can burn thousands of newspaper editions for the next 2 weeks, stop emails, halt word of mouth, turn off the internet or shred the thousands of flyers that will go out (pre-approved) in student folders then they’ve only wasted their time, our money and given GCAA even more incentive to keep pushing the boundaries for the kids. So if whoever took the signs is reading this or a friend of one just know that if you want to do the right thing you can always drop them off at GCAA or at the West View soccer fields. Or if you’d like to make arrangement to meet and hand them to me personally please feel free to contact me at president@gcaasoccer.com and I promise to keep your identity confidential.
I wanted to post a quick thank you to the very honest individual that emailed to apologize for using one of our signs and has promised to put it back. We need more honest people like this!
Just as an FYI, NCDOT is supposed to remove signs that are in their right of way. It depends on the part of the state you are in as to whether they enforce this or not. For the most part in our area, they don't have the manpower or money to do it.
I'm so glad to hear that one has been returned. A big thank you to that individual! Not only are they in a concentrated area but they are the only signs missing from those corners, all others are left untouched.
