UPDATED Tuesday, July 7, 2009 -- 5 pm

"What we have, we give."
But some chose to steal from a local non-profit. Now, it's forced to pick up the pieces.

First, burglars hit a Portage church. Then, a few days later... a break-in at St. Vincent de Paul.

"We're here 8 hours a day. This is our second home you know."
Violet Flores is the manager at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Portage.
"To have people in here... kind of makes you feel really funny... that someone else is in your home."
Someone forced a way in her second home sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning. Flores arrived at work to find glass doors shattered...
"Four inches deep..."
... and doors to a ransacked office kicked in...
"I don't know what they thought they were looking for... "
But... they found some cash - cash used by the non-profit to help people in need stay afloat.
"It's just such a disaster that someone would rob from everybody... what they're doing, they rob from everybody we help," Flores says, "Now we feel like we have to protect ourselves. We thought we'd never have to worry about that."
The people at this Portage church understand that feeling of uneasiness. Days earlier, they too suffered a break-in, which caused some significant damage.
"It was very tough," Pastor Randy Mantik says.
Staff say the thieves went room by room... breaking in doors to peek inside... looking for money, or anything of value. They got away with some petty cash... an old camcorder and laptop. But the pastor says the church community came together to pick up the pieces.
"We were just blessed that we sensed the peace of Christ among us even in the midst of all of those things."
Back at St. Vinny's... Flores has cleaned up the mess... but still wonders why.
"I just feel sorry for them to stoop that low when all they have to do is ask."
Police say it's too early to tell if the incidents are related, but there are some similarities. Anyone with information should call Columbia County Crime Stoppers at 800-293-TIPS.

Posted Tuesday, July 7, 2009 --- 2:30 p.m.

Within the last week, Portage Police report burglars ransacked two charitable organizations, taking cash or items of value.

The local St. Vincent de Paul lost hundreds of dollars while also suffering broken glass and damaged doors.

A local church, CrossPoint Assembly of God, also was hit days earlier. It lost a camcorder and laptop as well as suffering damage to a window and doors.

Police say it's too early to tell if the incidents are related, but it's possible given some similarities.