the KTVU YouTube channel. >> New at ten an Oakland teenager who recently graduated from high school says someone stole all of her gifts the night of the graduation, and now a nonprofit is stepping in to help her recover some of what she lost. KTVU is Amber Lee live tonight in Oakland. After speaking with the new graduate, Amber. >> Mike, the teen tells me what was stolen from her was more than material items and money. But she says community support is helping her move forward. >> And it's my escape from the world and I get to express myself. >> Soraya Pharr of Oakland loves to draw. She tells me it helps her forget that she was recently the victim of a crime. >> It helped me forget about the situation for at least a little bit. >> On Thursday, she graduated from Envision Academy High School with a 3.8 GPA. She received a money lay gift cards and other presents that evening, Soraya and her family, including her godmother, went to a restaurant in uptown Oakland to celebrate. When the 17 year old left the restaurant to go to her godmother's car parked on Broadway, her heart sank. >> We were parked about right here, and as soon as we walked up, all we saw was the glass. >> Broken glass from someone breaking into the car, popping open the trunk and taking soraya's graduation cap and all of her presents, including the money lei stolen, along with the joy of marking a major milestone that day. >> It wasn't really about the gifts. It was about the fact that all these people gave me their money and they gave me their time and their gifts, and it all got taken down. So I was just really hurt by that. >> I got very angry because, you know, this should have been the happiest night of her life. And then whenever she thinks about her graduation, she'll have this scar, this memory. >> Donald Lacey is founder of Love Life Foundation, a nonprofit he started in memory of his 16 year old daughter, who was shot and killed in 1997. He attended Soraya's graduation and describes her as a bright star who participated in many of his foundation's college prep programs. Lacey is now raising money to help the teen. >> I'm hoping the person or persons who perpetrated this crime sees this and knows that we, as a community are standing together for our young people, Soraya received an email from the Oakland Police Department Tuesday that she passed the interviews and testing for a position as a police cadet. >> She also plans to attend college. >> What I've learned is that that honestly, no matter what the bad situation is, I'll have support, Soraya tells me things are definitely looking up. She says the donations and a part time job as a police cadet will help her pay for expenses. When she starts Laney College
