Donation jar for sick girl stolen from Pahoa store

PAHOA (AP) — A donation jar used to raise money for an 8-year-old girl who needs a heart transplant was stolen from a Big Island store.

Irie Hawaii manager Jose Miranda said customers already had contributed at least $200 for Madisyn Tamaki, a third-grade student at Pahoa Elementary School.

Surveillance footage at the store shows a man grabbing the jar from a counter and stuffing it into his pants Monday.

“I was watching the video and my heart just dropped to my toes, you know?” Miranda said. “Everybody has some kind of etiquette — even robbers, even burglars. And for him to not even think about this 8-year-old needing a heart transplant to me is mind-boggling. That’s beyond cold-hearted to me.”

Hawaii police spokeswoman Chris Loos told the Associated Press in an email Wednesday that police are investigating the incident at the Pahoa Village Road store as a third-degree theft.

Madisyn was transferred to the Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she is awaiting a heart transplant, family members said. She was diagnosed with acute fulminant myocarditis, an inflammatory disease that attacks the heart muscle, according to a fundraising website set up for her.

The medical bills and travel costs for the family are mounting, the site said.

“We’re just all praying that a heart will become available for her,” said an aunt, Melissa Dunn. “Maddie is a very intelligent and vibrant child and she’s got much to achieve for her future.”