ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A local nonprofit is asking for help after a group of thieves drove off with a trailer with $200,000 worth of specialized equipment they used for its basketball program.

“How could anyone you know do this to a children’s foundation, a disabled children’s foundation?” said Liliana Prado-Bujanda, the executive director of the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation.

The trailer included all but one of their adaptive basketball wheelchairs. That means they can’t provide their vital program for children in the metro.

“We make it accessible for them to be able to participate, and for once, feel like they belong,” Prado-Bujanda said.

Video from March 13 showed a group of what appears to be four or five men stole a trailer full of 17 adaptive wheelchairs the foundation uses for its basketball program. The video shows them cutting through several locks to get into the foundation’s storage facility. Then, they attached it to their truck and drive off.

That left them with just one adaptive wheelchair.

“There’s no way for the team to be able to participate, you know, with one chair. So we have to… we have to rebuild,” Prado-Bujanda said.

The program is on hold because of this. Prado-Bujanda explained these chairs aren’t like your average wheelchair.

“These adaptive wheelchairs are very unique, and they’re very specific to our kids,” she said.

The trailer also had every thing else the program needs – adaptive nets, tools, basketballs – that Prado-Bujanda says quickly adds up.

“Once you add the term ‘adaptive’ to any piece of equipment, it’s very expensive,” she said.

The damage came out to be $200,000.

“We don’t have the funds to be able to replenish equipment of the sort, especially with the cost. It took us years to build equipment of this magnitude,” Prado-Bujanda said. “Our plea is asking the community, if they have you know any information, if anyone knows anything and sees you know the video clips, if they can communicate to Albuquerque Police Department.”

As the nonprofit brainstorms ways to get the chairs back or buy new ones and police track down the suspects, the kids and families are suffering the most.

“They get to have a reaction because of their excitement, their happiness and the fulfillment in accomplishing something that they wouldn’t otherwise do,” Prado-Bujanda said. “It’s impactful for the families, because you have a lot of parents who have never heard a sound from these kids, and when they bring them to these adaptive programs, they get to see their child for once be ‘normal.'”

The foundation has a big fundraiser next month. Prado-Bujanda says it’s more important than ever as they’ll use those funds to start rebuilding their wheelchair basketball program.

If you’d like to learn more about Pickleball Palooza, click here. To find ways you can donate or volunteer, click here. They also have a GoFundMe set up here.

The stolen trailer is white and has the license plate number 88119TRK. If you know anything that could help in the investigation, you can call 242-COPS anonymously. Crime Stoppers is offering $1,000 for information.