Rural Elementary School Reeling From Fundraising Theft

ROBBINS (CBS13) -- A tiny school in Sutter County is trying to recover from a very big loss. But for every door that closes, the people at Robbins School believe another one will open up.

But right now, that's a hard thing to remember for this tiny school facing a big disappointment after a thief has stolen their trust:

Sometime over the weekend, someone broke in and stole an 87-pound safe. Inside: several thousand dollars.

"It almost brings a tear to my eye … because it's sad," teaching principal Kim Richter told CBS13.

Sad because the money was supposed to go toward an outdoor education weeklong field trip in the Sierra. It was hard-earned cash the kids were determined to raise:

"The problem is these children worked very, very hard for their money and that it was taken away from them is absolutely a travesty," Richter said.

"We really have kind of done non stop fundraising so it was pretty heartbreaking to see some of our hard work be gone," one parent said.

"I was kind of angry that they took it," one student said. "I was sad that they took it."

The K-8 school has just a 160 students in a town with just a few hundred people.

Ask them what the best part is about living in a small country town and they're quick to answer that things like this don't happen.

But now it has happned. What happens next? The people at Robbins School they will persevere and that door will open up.

"This community will rally around these kids to make sure that they get a chance to go," Richter said.

On top of the community stepping up to help, the kids plan to get busy again too.

In fact, the first question they asked after this happened wasn't "who would do this?" or "why?" but instead "how soon can we start to raise the money again?"