Rotten Luck of the Irish

Safe stolen from Irish American Heritage Center

By MATT BARTOSIK

Updated 1:18 PM CST, Tue, Jul 28, 2009

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Robbers lurched a heavy safe flush with fundraising cash out of a Northwest Side Irish cultural center over the weekend.

Every year, volunteers at the

Irish American Heritage Center

hold a fundraising festival, in order to maintain the educational programs and library that celebrate Irish culture in Chicago.

But this year, the festival's proceeds took a severe hit when thieves crawled through a window at the Center (4626 N Knox Ave) between 2:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Bob McNamara, president of the organization, said the stolen safe, which weighed hundreds of pounds, contained approximately $9,000 in cash. Fortunately, officials had made daily deposits of each day's proceeds, so the thieves didn't make off with all of the Center's profits.

The safe was stolen just before the third day of the fundraising event, which provides about 25 to 35 percent of the organization's yearly budget. McNamara said the loss hits the heritage center hard.

"For many of [the members], they feel like their own home has been robbed," he told the Tribune.

Grand Central Area detectives are investigating, but no one was in custody as of Sunday evening.

Matt Bartosik is the editor of Off the Rocks' next issue and a "between blogs" blogger.