SPRINGFIELD -- Every day, people steal donations that could help needy families.  Part of the problem is many people apparently don't think it's a crime at all.  They don't see who gets hurt when donations dropped off at charities are picked up and taken home.

  KY3 News set up a hidden camera behind the Salvation Army’s store on Campbell Avenue just north of Sunshine Street.  The camera focused on the loading dock for the store’s receiving warehouse.  When something on the dock or in the alley next to it moved, the camera clicked on.  It didn't blink when thieves moved in.

  Time after time, the camera captured thieves crawling all over donations to the Salvation Army like ants at a picnic.    You can watch the clothes and toys and boxes build up on the dock, and then be driven off, sometimes in just minutes.

  “Why did you do that?” a reporter asked one woman.

  “I'm sorry, I won't do that anymore,” she said.  “I see everybody else doing it.”

  It's not just thefts from the dock.  People jump in the Salvation Army's trash bin looking for cords with copper or anything else of value.

   “We're here for the poor and the poor can get assistance,” said Major Norman Grainger, the local director of the religious and charitable organization.  “They don't need to be getting in the Dumpster.”

  When everyone jumps on the pile, it hurts the poor.  The Salvation Army sells its donated items at its stores and spends the revenue on its programs.  Every pot, every pie pan, can become a glass of juice or a chili-dog.

  “When an item like this is taken, it means less money going to those programs,” said Grainger.

  The Salvation Army spends more than $200,000 a year on social programs in Springfield.  We wanted to know how many more people might be helped.  That's why we set up a surveillance camera.

   It caught person after person after person rifling through gifts.  They’re not just people who look like they're facing crises.   The cars in the video are not all junkers.

  One weekend, we staked out the same alley and talked to some of the thieves.

  “What are you doing?” a reporter asked a woman.

  “I'm sorry; I'm sorry,” she said.

  “Well, why are you doing this?”

  “I'm sorry.”

  We had no trouble finding scavengers who are attracted to a pile of donations.

  “I suggest you put it back,” the reporter told a man.

  “All right,” he said.

  “I wasn't thinking,” another man said.  “I wasn't thinking.”

   We were there for about 45 minutes on a Sunday afternoon.  A pile of donations was dropped off.  In that 45 minutes, a space heater was stolen twice.  It would never make it to Monday morning.

   “Did you pick up that space heater?” a reporter asked a woman.

  “No,” she said.

  “Where's the space heater?  Where'd it go?”

  “I don't know what you're talking about,” she said.

  “You do know.  Where'd the space heater go?”

  “I don't know what you're talking about.”

  “There's a space heater that was sitting here.  Did you take it?”

  “No.”

  “How did it disappear then?”

  “Excuse me.  I have to go.”

  “You know when you do this, you're stealing from the poor.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “You should put that space heater back.”

  And then, from the back seat of the newer Ford sport utility vehicle, a young voice said, “Mom, give it back.”  And the woman did give it back and sped off.

  Springfield police won't turn a blind eye to the problem.

We alerted them to what happens in the alley.  Those caught by police got ticketed for stealing.

  “I don't know why you didn't just go around to the front,” an officer told one person.

  One person had an outstanding warrant.  She got a free ride to jail.

  “I wasn't thinking. I wasn't thinking.”

  The day we were there was Veterans Day.  Another pile of donations was next door to the Salvation Army at the Disabled American Veterans.

  And, while thieves swipe what should go in the cash register, Grainger shakes his head.

  “I’m frustrated,” he said.  “If they would just come to the Salvation Army and there's a genuine need, the Salvation Army will meet that need.”

  That Sunday night, after we and the police left, the scavengers showed up again and stole from poor people.

  The Salvation Army is investing in a permanent video surveillance system.  It cost $2,000.

  By the way, we worked with the Salvation Army and Springfield police during the production of this report.

  Meantime, you can help stop the thefts by not dropping off donations to charities after hours. Most, including the Salvation Army will pick them up from you, if you can't make it during regular business hours.

  The number to call to schedule a pickup by the Salvation Army is (417) 866-9426.