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$5,000 grill of man who feeds homeless of Baltimore City stolen.

KSweeley

Member
UPDATE: Duane "Shorty" Davis has found his grill!!!!: https://www.facebook.com/shortman9/videos/10210762929288591/

Well this is very upsetting and yet another reason why I'm losing faith in humans. A man who is well known for traveling around Baltimore City feeding the homeless had his $5,000 grill stolen: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bs-md-ci-shorty-grill-stolen-20171006-story.html

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Duane ”Shorty" Davis, 57, is shown with his barbecue grill, which he pulls around town to provide food for city residents at events and gatherings. The grill was stolen this week.

October 6, 2017

Now, Duane ”Shorty" Davis, 57, is calling for help.

A couple of thieves — grown men, he says — dragged off his hulking $5,000 grill, the one with three chambers and two smokers that he hauled up from Antioch, Ga., more than a year ago. The thieves hitched it to the back of a gold-colored pickup and drove off Tuesday afternoon from behind Mary E. Rodman Elementary School in the Allendale neighborhood of West Baltimore, he says.

For three days, Shorty's grill, as it's simply and widely known, has been missing.

”Every time I see somebody, I spread the word. In West Baltimore, East Baltimore — we're going to find it. The only way we're not going to find it is if they went out of Baltimore," said Shelley Stephens, who runs Shelley's Helping Hands, the nonprofit that offered books and barbecue last Saturday.

But what becomes of barbecue activism without the barbecue? A pitmaster without his pit?

”I can't do the work ... like a cabdriver without a car," said Davis, of Randallstown. ”I'm a 57-year-old ex-felon. Who's going to hire me? All I got is my grill."

With his grill, Davis opened a business apart from his neighborhood activism. He works catering jobs and runs a roadside stand, Shorty's Bootleg BBQ. It's all a second chance through barbecue.

So he's fed Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, as well as former Govs. Martin O'Malley and Robert Ehrlich, he says. During the general election last year, he offered free hot dogs and hamburgers outside a Park Heights polling place to Democrats and Republicans alike. But it's the volunteer work, the Sundays he parks near a downtown shelter and feeds the homeless, that earned Davis recognition from the City Council.

”This grill fights crime, ends homelessness, employs returning citizens & gives people hope. Folks in Baltimore — Let's find it!" urged Todd Oppenheim, a city public defender, in a message online.

The grill was stolen after last Saturday's Books and Barbecue event by Shelley's Helping Hands. Davis fed the crowd with hamburgers and hot dogs. Then he left his grill behind with Stephens. There it remained at the Mary E. Rodman Recreation Center for three days before Stephens returned and discovered it missing.

Security cameras across the street captured the crime and the pickup truck and the thieves' getaway, Stephens said.

”I knew better than to leave it, but that's my community. I was like, ‘Ain't nobody going to take it,'" he said. ”How could somebody take away from the givers?"

Davis was traveling out of town when he received the phone call.

”I was sick. I was mad. I was upset," he said. ”Who would do something like that? If you need my grill, all you had to do was ask."
 
The fact that people like him exist and someone will most likely put up a gofundme and replace it and then some is why I still have faith in humanity.


What an awesome guy. Hopefully he gets it replaced and they catch the thieves.
 
Is there a go fund me or something for him? I would like to see him get a replacement.

Dude is doing incredible work. He’s a goddamned hero.
 

Demoskinos

Member
Damn man. Come the fuck on. Dude is a ex-felon who genuinely turns his life around and helps less fortunate people and then this shit happens. Fucks sake.

I agree with above posters. Get this story out on the net. Setup a Go FundMe get this man a new grill. If It gets wide enough attention he could raise 5 grand in just a few hours.
 
Just hope it wasn't racists assholes who stole it and destroyed it. Hope someone finds it in their hearts to donate him a new grill, the money or even more to support him and his cause. And of course, I hope they find the assholes.
 
This is truly upsetting,

The thing looks like it's custom made to serve that purpose (feeding a crowd of people) Why would someone steal this? What the fuck are they going to do with it? move next state over and open up a mobile bbq shop???

He should've put these words on the BBQ itself:

"This grill fights crime, ends homelessness, employs returning citizens & gives people hope. Folks in Baltimore"


”I'm a 57-year-old ex-felon. Who's going to hire me? All I got is my grill."

hopefully then, even a desperate, scummy thief would have a heart big enough not to touch it.
 

Mindlog

Member
That's a man that genuinely enjoys grilling and found a wonderful outlet to do it more often. Hope he manages to get back to it.
 

Gouty

Bloodborne is shit
Would be super easy to scrap. Which is extra shitty to think about how little they probably got relative to the actual monetary value.

Naw dude. I work in metals. Even high quality sheet aluminum right now is going for $0.40 a lb. Theres zero money in a pit aside from selling it as such.

I hope this guy gets his pit back because there’s more to grills than just a tool. The learning curve and familiarity with the pit is a huge part in their ability to produce high quality food.
 

SaviourMK2

Member
Someone link an official GoFundMe and I'll donate for a new grill.
Man should be allowed to continue his mission. Also needs to set up a booby trap on it.

Electrocute the fuck outta anyone who touches it.
 
The thieves hitched it to the back of a gold-colored pickup
Residents be on the lookout for a couple of 30 year old white dudes with backwards baseball caps, chin strap facial hair, and UFC sponsor clothing.
 

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
Let me know if a donation is opened if they can't find it. He does too much good work to not chip in.
 

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
Man, you never touch another man's grill. How you gonna steal it? That's just low.
 
I'd donate to a gofundme if there was one right now. No one should be against someone who feeds the poor from their own pockets. That's just totally evil.
 

Dark_castle

Junior Member
I think I watched too much Twitch that I thought of grill as Twitch way of spelling girl instead of the actual grill. Glad the good man found it back.
 
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