From left, Shannon Carter, head clerk of The Mining Journal’s Circulation Department; Desiree Aho of Marquette; Mining Journal Carrier Bonnie Taylor and Mining Journal Circulation District Manager Brenda Cole smile as Taylor holds a cart Aho donated to her this morning. The cart was donated by Aho after Carter made a Facebook post about the theft of Taylor’s cart, which she uses to carry papers on her route. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — The community’s generosity has shone through once again after a Mining Journal carrier’s much-needed paper cart was stolen over the weekend.

Desiree Aho of Marquette saw a Facebook post about the incident and immediately stepped up to make a difference in the life of Journal carrier Bonnie Taylor.

“It’s a blessing that it’s been resolved,” Taylor said.

Taylor, a newspaper carrier for the Journal who covers much of the downtown Marquette area and uses a wheeled cart due to the high volume of papers she delivers, was just finishing up her route on Saturday by delivering to St. Peter Cathedral.

However, when she returned to the area she left her cart, it was gone.

Taylor was shocked and distraught about the incident, bringing it to local police for an investigation.

“It’s just outrageous that someone would take a cart in a few minutes,” Taylor said.

With a daily route that includes many customers, Taylor needed her cart.

But then Mining Journal Circulation Department employees Shannon Carter and Brenda Cole stepped in, with Carter making a Facebook post about the incident Monday that would reach people throughout the Marquette area and beyond.

“This is one of the the most despicable and cruelest things I have seen in a long time. I had always thought that the people in our little town could depend on one another but apparently that is not the case,” Carter’s Facebook post reads. “I am posting this to get the word out and hopefully somebody sees or hears something so the guilty party can be called out and punished somehow. I just had to speak out.”

And then, within “less than a half an hour, we had a cart,” Cole said, as the post was shared over 100 times and inspired people as far as Traverse City to offer a donation of a cart or funds.

Aho, who was the first to respond with an offer of a cart for Taylor, said: “It just popped up on Facebook and I was like ‘We’ve all done hooligan stuff when we were kids,’ so it was time to give back.”

This morning, Carter and Cole arranged to have Aho visit The Mining Journal office and surprise Taylor with the donation of the cart.

Taylor was touched by Aho’s generosity and the community response to the incident, she said.

“It’s enriching to think that people sympathized with me,” Taylor said. “And they clearly thought it was wrong that someone would take my cart, and they wanted to help. That is so touching.”

Immediately following the surprise cart donation, another individual even dropped off a donation in an envelope, Cole said, noting she was glad to see such an outpouring of generosity from the community.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is cbrown@miningjournal .net.