A total of 50 boxes of food that were supposed to help families in need this Thanksgiving were stolen from a Huntington Station charity.

Volunteers from Toys of Hope, a Huntington Station-based nonprofit, were planning to deliver enough food to feed 170 families Sunday. Upon arrival at a storage warehouse, the group found the food to be ransacked.

After hearing about the theft, Trish Rongo, who works with the Townwide Fund, reached out to her grant department and helped Toys of Hope secure an emergency $3,000 grant.

Melissa Doktofsky, founder of Toys of Hope, says that inspired the community to start donating even more.

"People started to pick up supermarket gift cards and Visa gift cards," she said.

After securing $6,000 in additional donations, Doktofsky says the charity is back on track.

Doktofsky says she's looking into retrieving the surveillance video from the heist to file an official police report. In the meantime, she's already purchased new food and will be out with her volunteers delivering to families early Wednesday.