Surfer Blood have their van broken into, including donations to Thomas Fekete’s cancer treatment

Over the weekend, Surfer Blood’s tour van was broken into while the band were in Schaumburg, Illnois.

Posting a statement on their Facebook, the group confirmed the loss of gear, personal items and “show settlements”, and more tragically, the loss of thousands of dollars’ worth of cash donations to guitarist Thomas Fekete’s cancer treatment.

Fekete set up a donation page earlier this year to help pay for treatment on an aggressive form of cancer. He hit his GoFundMe goal, but the group have also been collecting additional donations while on tour.

Surfer Blood wrote:

“We deeply regret having to inform you this, but our van was broken into today in Schaumburg, Il just outside of Chicago. Not only did we lose thousands of dollars in personal items and show settlements, but we also lost all cash donations we collected for Thomas over the last 8 shows at our merch table. This last detail is perhaps the most heartbreaking of all in that so much positivity and amazing generosity could be ruined by one bad person(s).

Most of our large musical gear was not stolen and the shows will still go on as planned.

There are a few one-of-a kind guitar pedals to please keep an eye out for—not for their specific value, but for the fact that these are unique and recognizable items. If they are found at a pawn shop or private seller, everything else including the more serious items are likely there or somewhere nearby.

Thank you for all of your support. You help us all stay positive in the midst of something so discouraging.”

The group’s ‘1000 Palms’ album came out earlier this year.