Tomball business owner shares theft video as awareness for small businesses

TOMBALL, Texas - A family's beloved farm stand in Tomball was targeted by a thief, and the family is sharing what happened, not to press charges, but to raise awareness.

Thief targets Tomball farm stand

The backstory:

Every Friday, Kimberly Rodriguez and her family set up their small farm stand, "Bless 2B Homestead," along TKC Road. The stand is full of homemade goods like cookies, sourdough bread, and skincare products.

Rodriguez tells FOX 26 that the stand started as a teaching moment for her daughter, but it's grown into something bigger.

"We homeschool our daughter, and it started because we wanted to show her basic business skills, marketing skills, math lessons, on-hand learning," said Rodriguez. "The community received us so openly we were shocked. Not only does it help me homeschool, but it produces enough income for us to feed our animals and all kinds of stuff."

For about two years, the business has operated on an honor sytem: customers pick what they want, and they pay with cash or via CashApp. 

Rodriguez said there was never an issue with the system until last Friday.

‘You’re taking from the whole community'

What they're saying:

Last Friday, a woman was caught on camera taking items from the stand without paying.

Rodriguez said she didn't share the video in hopes of getting justice or pressing charges. She says it's a warning to future thieves.

"It was just to bring awareness that the farm stand does have cameras, and they do work," she said. "We hope what the person took blesses her, and we hope it won't happen again."

The second message that she hopes to send with the footage: stealing from a small business has a domino effect.

"When you're taking from a small business like this, it hurts a little bit more than you think," Rodriguez said. "Because you're not just taking from me, but you're taking from the whole community because, if it happens again, it will force us to have to shut our doors down.

What's next:

For now, Rodriguez's family plan to keep the stand going, with overwhelming support from locals.

"I was just blown away [by] the support and love the community had for us," she said.

Despite what happened last Friday, Bless 2B Homestead will be up and running again this Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.