William and Beverly Sanford had been trying to get a home of their own for years. Finally, they submitted their application to the Lauderdale County Habitat for Humanity in October of 2015 and were accepted a year later.

Since then, they’ve saved up for a down payment, worked their required “sweat equity” hours fixing the home and paid for their first year of insurance. On Monday they were all set up to move into their home with Beverly Sanford’s 88-year-old mother.

“I went over to make sure that the termite man was able to go in house for an inspection,” William Sanford said. “I looked down and saw glass all over the porch and I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ “

Aside from three broken windows, burglars took countertops, the refrigerator, the washing machine, the master bathroom vanity and even the guest bathroom toilet.

“It was just mind blowing,” William Sanford said. “Why would anyone do that?”

On Monday, Habitat for Humanity posted about their frustration on their Facebook page. 

“(The) Lauderdale County Habitat for Humanity works to help low-income people become homeowners. We have dealt with a lot of situations and never shout out in frustration but this time … this time (we) cannot let this go,” they posted. “We are so disappointed that people are stealing from those who are trying to help others.”

In response, the organization got a flood of calls asking to help, from a GoFundMe account to a $500 check from the East Mississippi Realtors said. 

“When we found out about the situation we were disheartened as most everybody was,” Eric Jackson, president of that organization said. “As a Realtor organization promoting home ownership we felt like we had to do something… we felt a responsibility as a part of the community to help out and give back.”

The man who installed the cabinets told the Sanfords he’d replace the countertops. An old classmate dropped of a donation. People stopped the Sanfords on the street asking what they could do. 

“It’s been great to see the community outpouring of love,” Jane Collins, the nonprofit’s outreach community coordinator, said. “The Sanfords are the sweetest people you’ll meet. They’re responsible, hard working and dedicated … to watch something bad happen to them was pretty devastating for us.”

Collins said this community reaction was “unusual,” because after the few other break-ins the organization hadn’t received this kind of response. 

“But they’re a very deserving couple,” Collins said. “We’ve had small break-ins before … you could tell they got in and got out real quick. With this situation, they were there for awhile to do all of the things that they did.”

Collins encouraged community members wishing to help the Sanfords to contact the nonprofit directly during the week or visit the GoFundMe page.

Though they haven’t reset a move-in date, the Sanfords agreed they’d been overwhelmed by the response they’d received from the community.

“It’s been overwhelming,” William Sanford said about the help. “Over the years we have helped a lot of people and we didn’t want nothing in return. It’s nice to be on the receiving end and it’s by the grace of God. 

To donate online, vist gofundme.com/fighting-back-after-vandalism?member=220726.