K-Jo Farm co-owner Karen Biondo discovered last Tuesday that her farmstand’s cashbox had been emptied. Less than $150 was likely taken, Biondo said; she checks her cashbox daily.
K-Jo’s roadside farmstand on 111th Avenue S.W. is always open, she said. But she plans to take precautionary measures to help prevent another theft.
She’ll purchase a more secure cashbox and install a surveillance camera at the site, she said.
“I’m thinking about locking it at night, but I don’t know if that’s the solution,” Biondo said. “If they really want to get in, they’re going to get in, and then the damage would be worse.”
K-Jo’s farmstand was the second to be hit on Vashon this month. On June 9 or 10, someone uprooted and stole the concrete-based cashbox at Pacific Crest Farm on Maury Island, making off with about $600.
“I think it’s an interesting indication of the times we live in,” Biondo said. “The risk I take when I put my money out there … is that it will be stolen, and I have lived with a certain amount of trust, and while I will get a more secure cashbox, I still want to believe that 99 percent of people are honest.”
