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Girls Build trailer fixed and ready to go after break-in, with donated tools inside

The executive director for the local nonprofit Girls Build, Katie Hughes, is in awe of her mended trailer full of donated tools.

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By
Brenna Kelly
GRESHAM, OR — The executive director for the local nonprofit Girls Build, Katie Hughes, is in awe of her mended trailer full of donated tools.

The trailer was originally gifted to her by TV star Mike Rowe, but then it was broken into a month ago. Burglars trashed the trailer and stole the new equipment.

Over the last few weeks, an overwhelming amount of donations have poured in from the community and the company that originally built her trailer, Tiny Innovations, has been fixing it.

On Monday, there was a grand reveal of not only the trailer, but thousands of dollars worth of equipment, too.

Hughes says it's been an emotional roller coaster for the last couple months.

"It's amazing, really. Because of the break-in, we've seen such an increase of support and an increase of people coming out of the woodwork to say, 'We're on your side. We want to be part of Girls Build. What can we do?' and it's much more than we ever thought possible," she said.

Now, Hughes is able to reach more girls with her programming than she ever thought possible.

She's about three weeks shy of needing the trailer for its first trip to programming at Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility where she will work with about 60 girls. They're sessions that, as the nonprofit boasts, "inspire curiosity and confidence in girls through the world of building."

A truck was also donated to haul the new rig around, a gift Hughes never expected.

"This is crazy! This is so cool! We can all fit in here and we can go wherever we want to go." she said. "It's gotten better. Don't tell Mike."

A new ride and a restored rig are now apart of Hughes' programming, but she said this time it's all here to stay.

She said they'll be taking the tools out of the trailer at night.

"If you break in you can relax and have a nice evening to yourselves, but there's not gonna be anything inside," Hughes said.

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