BOISE, Idaho — The power of social media and a community rallying together helps out a local PAL gym Thursday, after vandals spray painted graffiti along the side of their building.
The owner of Vista PAL Boxing Gym, which sits at the corner of Franklin Rd. and Phillipi St. in Boise, said that over the weekend vandals spray painted graffiti on the west wall of the gym, but after tonight, thanks to some good samaritans, it’s gone without a trace.
“This is the first time I can remember any property damage being done out of malicious intent,” said Zachary Lopez, Head Coach at Vista Pal Boxing Gym.
The first time in the over thirty years that the Vista PAL Boxing Gym has sat at the corner of Franklin Rd. and Phillipi St. in Boise.
“Somebody had sprayed graffiti all over the side of the gym here on the west side,” said Lopez.
A low blow, and in the following days, none of the team boxing practices were held outside.
“We didn’t want the kids feeling stigmatized to it or going home and talking to parents about it and get a bad perception, or reinforce any thoughts that they may have already,” said Lopez.
So Lopez and some fellow coaches got out their paint brushes, and painted over the graffiti. While the paint wasn’t a perfect match, it was sufficient for them.
“And then, everybody local started sharing it and talkin’,” said Lopez.
A Facebook post caught the attention of Longoria+ Painting L.L.C.
“We’ve been doing this for a long time painting so we just said ‘hey, let’s lend a hand, why not?’,” said Joe Longoria, Owner of Longoria+ Painting.
So they reached out to the Vista Pal Boxing Gym, and within a day, Longoria+ Painting brought their supplies and painted the entire wall of the gym, all free of charge.
“The gym owner had the paint so today we’ll probably be here, we’ve already been here for about a hour preppin’ on it and we’ll probably spend a couple hours just spraying it back, rolling it, filling in the cracks,” said Longoria.
Longoria+ Painting wasn’t the only group that offered to help out on that Facebook post, they just so happened to beat everyone else to the punch.
As of this evening, the vandals have not been caught, so if you have any information, give Boise Police a call.
