Milwaukee community garden director says he won’t press charges against thief
Ellis has a message to people after the vandalism, “I’m asking that when you step out your door, give some respect. Put the guns away. Stop taking from one another.”
By Amanda Becker
WDJT Milwaukee
June 30, 2021
Excerpt:
Andre Lee Ellis is the director of ‘We Got This’ community garden, and he says the garden is about more than providing food to the community, it’s a place to mentor local youth, too.
So when he showed up at the garden earlier this week to find thousands of dollars in lawn equipment missing, he was hurt.
He first noticed a couple of missing lawn mowers.
“Everything that you use– weed wackers to the rototillers, to the trash-pickers to the shovels. Not all of them, but a lot,” said Ellis.
He estimates about $3,000 worth of damage and missing tools.
And it didn’t take long for him to find the person responsible.
“It’s a young man, about 30 years old,” said Ellis. “He comes to the garden for the free lunches and food and I can see that there’s mental trauma there.”
Ellis doesn’t plan on pressing charges. He says his job is to work with the youth, not put them into the system.
