Coffee cart stolen from non-profit amid holidays

ICAN’s Hermosa Coffee Co. cart, used to train developmentally-disabled individuals to work at coffee shops, was stolen from the non-profit’s Torrance property on Dec. 19. Photo courtesy ICAN

ICAN, the Redondo Beach-based non-profit that teaches job and life skills with people with developmental disabilities, is seeking to recover after a coffee cart and trailer — valued at nearly $20,000 — was stolen from their forthcoming new home in Torrance.

“Our clients are super sad, some were crying when they found out,” said ICAN Executive Director Scott Elliott. “The ones that were working can’t work until we get a new cart. Some live paycheck to paycheck, so this is a bummer.”

The cart was stolen during the night of Dec. 19, when it’s believed thieves cut the locks off a trailer stored in the parking lot of the future ICAN home office, near the intersection of Crenshaw Blvd. and Sepulveda Blvd.

“They had to use a grinder on two locks to get it. They were definitely determined, and had the right tools,” Elliott said. “It wasn’t like they just drove by, they came to take it.”

Staff of ICAN’s Hermosa Coffee Co. cart serve coffee at the “I Can Make Art” show on Dec. 7. Photo by Hana Jones

ICAN’s coffee cart is the center of its Hermosa Coffee Company venture, a program that offers real-world training to their clients seeking to learn to work in a coffee shop, using espresso machines, pulling shots and making beverages. The goal is to prepare them to work in community coffee shops and restaurants. The clients learn customer service skills and — perhaps most importantly — earn paychecks in the process.

The training program, Elliott said, is a three-stage process that starts with introducing clients to handling hot liquids and cleaning, and moves them to actively working on the Hermosa Coffee Co. cart at commercial events. ICAN’s clients have staffed the cart since its purchase in 2017, and have recently worked between five to seven events a week, from corporate gigs to selling at South Bay Lakers games.

ICAN had about 30 clients staffing the coffee cart — 30 people who are now effectively out of a job, and will be for about six to eight weeks, Elliott said. The cart holds many custom parts, and fabricating the triple-sinks and water-management systems will take quite a bit of time. In the meantime, ICAN found help at King’s Harbor Church, where clients have been allowed to train.

Making matters more difficult, the organization is feeling a cash squeeze, having already set aside funds for designing and building out its new Torrance home base and a recently-signed lease on an additional space in Long Beach. The organization expects to receive some money from its insurance policy against the cart, but doesn’t expect it to be enough to replace the cart entirely.

Ironically, ICAN was awaiting a set of security cameras that were on order, but not yet delivered by the time the theft occurred. 

ICAN is taking donations to recover from the cart’s theft at its website, ican.org.

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