CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A youth football program in Rogers Park, on Chicago’s North Side, lost all of its equipment earlier this week.
The High Ridge Chargers football program lost equipment that was valued at about $30,000.
It was in a storage container at the park. Team President David Roti spoke to CBS 2.
"It's just gut-wrenching to come out here and see everything gone," he said. "Someone stole a car, and parked it right here - you can kind of see the tracks - and set it on fire.”
The fire spread to the storage container, destroying everything.
Now, the team, which was started in 1959, and is run by volunteers, is trying to raise money to replace the equipment.
A GoFundMe page has raised more than $15,000 so far. Organizers of the fundraising effort wrote:
"The flames consumed everything in their path: practice equipment, training bags, tackling dummies, cheer tumbling mats, whiteboards, and so much more. The smell of burnt leather and scorched turf now hangs heavily in the air, a painful reminder of what once was."
The season starts in April.
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