Giving back is what the Allerton International Merchant Association does - but they don’t like to brag about it.

“We're just there to help when help is needed.” said Gene DeFrancis, an organizer with the association. “We come out and do it, and we do it quietly. Behind the scenes, usually.”

However, DeFrancis knew they needed to reach out to someone when the Allerton Resource and Recovery Center was vandalized and robbed sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning.

DeFrancis left the shop at around 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 3 and by the next morning, the front door of the temporary shop had been smashed in.

“They took diapers, they took dog food, socks and clothes, the jeans,” he added. “It was going so good and making a lot of people happy during a tough, tragic time… This was 300 families that were displaced, and they are all throughout the city now.”

Those donations had been supporting more than 200 victims of the Jan. 10 fire that torched through 2910 Wallace Ave.

DeFrancis says this one bad incident does not represent the community.

“This neighborhood is a good neighborhood, and I believe in this neighborhood, and that's why we're doing it here ... We fix the glass, we pay the rent, and then we keep serving the families and the community. That's all we can do," he says.

DeFrancis says the repairs to fix the front door are going to cost around $500. Those who want to support the efforts of the group can email AllertonMerchants@gmail.com.