Cary, N.C. — Online donors have rallied to help a 12-year-old Cary boy after a man stole of jar of money the boy had collected for his wheelchair basketball team.

Cary police Capt. Michael Williams said that Nolan Turner, who uses a wheelchair, was selling bottled water along High Meadow Drive Thursday afternoon when a man came up to him. The man talked to the boy for a little bit, then grabbed his jar of money and ran off.

Officers found the jar nearby on Winners Circle, but all of the money – about $200 – that Nolan had collected was gone, Williams said.

Nolan was raising money to send his wheelchair basketball team, the Raleigh Junior Thunder, to do a demonstration at Briarcliffe Elementary School, which he attends.

His family set up a website for people to donate to cover the cost of a demonstration by his wheelchair basketball team. By Monday morning, more than 450 people had donated nearly $18,000 – far exceeding the goal of $1,000.

The family stated on the website that all of the extra money will go to BridgeIISports, the nonprofit that organizes his wheelchair basketball team.

Police are trying to identify the man who stole the money. He was described as black, in his early 20s, weighing around 160 pounds. He is bald and has a tattoo on the back of his left hand.

Anyone with information about his identity is asked to call Cary police at 919-469-4012 or Crime Stoppers at 919-226-2743.