Grocery Chain's Crackdown To Blame For Salvation Army's Donation Drop?

The Washington Post:

For more than two decades, bell-ringing Salvation Army volunteers collected donations outside Giant Food stores, a holiday season ritual that gave shoppers a convenient way to help the less fortunate.

Last fall, Giant enforced a sharp reduction in the number of hours that charitable groups could operate in front of its stores. Now, the Salvation Army says the policy change helped cause a steep drop in its end-of-year fundraising drive across the Washington region.

Read the whole story: The Washington Post

Comments

[Sita001]

10:03 PM on 01/11/2011

Can't feel sorry for the SA with it's active support to keep people 2nd class citizens and not by sticking to doing good works as it used to.
Maybe the cutback @ Giant was precipitated by some people who are offended in Giant's upper executive offices at their behavior?
I would feel worse for the people who don't get help but I would imagine that with all this spending we heard about for the holiday season, that money went to other charities.
I think the SA needs to take a good long look into it's own heart and know that there are a lot of people who didn't give to them not because of their beliefs on gays, but their actions against.

[AKL1985]

03:03 PM on 01/11/2011

The nay-sayers can say what you want about the Salvation Army, but I know when I was 19 and my dad kicked me out of the house along with my 2 year old son, the salvation army gave me food to eat, money to pay for a deposit on an apartment and 2 months of rent until I could get on my feet, and asked nothing about my religious affiliation or any "lifestyle" questions. They saved me in one of the darkest moment of my life.

[Lahonda]

01:52 PM on 01/11/2011

Food for thought...

[sillyfrog]

10:10 AM on 01/11/2011

Anyone can get an outfit and collect money for themselves. Besides that I don't donate to them or BSA because they get government money and are free to practice open bigotry.

[Lisa Shields]

09:38 AM on 01/11/2011

Excuse me.

Two points...I do try to give what I can to charity, but frankly, things are tight for my family. Once I have given at one place, being hit up at another is bothersome...even embarrassing. Our local Walmart allows charities, including the Salvation Army to set up their kettle...but one of their bell ringers was aggressive in his collection techniques---and I stopped giving after being humiliated by his "calling out" stunts.

Second...after reading about how the Salvation Army houses its people---not including their "officers"...(Dormitories vs. VERY nice homes) I find myself wondering how much of my money is going to the needy...versus how much is covering opulent digs for the higher ups.

So don't blame Giant...there could be more happening here than you think.

[July August]

03:43 AM on 01/11/2011

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[DMSmith]

02:47 AM on 01/11/2011

This is their 'news story.'
They want us to believe this is the reason they have lost donations rather than have the public know that the reason is their extreme bigotry and the resultant gay boycott. It has been growing for a few years now.
They'd rather you think it's this market chain. It's not.

[Memphislib]

11:59 PM on 01/10/2011

7 friends, myself included, stopped giving to them last year because of their position on homosexuality.

[OutAtFirst]

03:16 PM on 01/10/2011

It was a lot more fun donating to the red bucket when the bell-ringers were volunteers. Not so much fun now that they're just earning a paycheck.

[cirrus9]

08:38 PM on 01/10/2011

Most religious "charities" are primarily fund raising organizations and spend a hefty percentage of their donation revenue just oiling the machine and paying salaries.

[pflickner]

03:05 PM on 01/10/2011

Boycott Giant.

[cirrus9]

08:36 PM on 01/10/2011

Boycott religious "charities".

[foxisms]

03:02 PM on 01/10/2011

How many stores and how many buckets can a person put money into during the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas and still have enough for what they went out shopping for in the first place?
I think the terrible record of charities (Katrina, Haiti...both places still doing without) and the poor distribution of money collected into the hands of the people...and the economy had a lot to do with the limited profits of the Salvy and charities in general.

[Lynne Parker]

02:57 PM on 01/10/2011

The Salvation Army's policies are dismal and the main reason I stopped donating.

http://gay.americablog.com/2009/12/salvation-army-is-nasty-anti-gay.html

[ForObamaInDallas]

03:39 PM on 01/10/2011

Bummer. I "adopted" three "angels" from their Christmas tree this year.

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

01:29 PM on 01/10/2011

When they stop discriminating against gays, I will consider reestablishing my support.

[Lynne Parker]

02:54 PM on 01/10/2011

That's exactly why I stopped donating.

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

05:29 PM on 01/10/2011

It boils down to the fact that The Salvation Army itself is responsible for fewer donations.

[Rwstafford]

12:47 PM on 01/10/2011

Good for Giant, that bell ringing gets on my damn nerves

[shuffleoff]

12:19 PM on 01/10/2011

I think the visibility theory is huge and hopefully next season will be better. For me, it's a part of the holidays I enjoy...hearing the bells, dropping the money in the pot, a smile and perhaps a few kind words exchanged and most importantly knowing it's going to help someone. It's the giving that is the true spirit of the season.

[Sita001]

10:07 PM on 01/11/2011

So does it make you smile to know that some of those dollars you give are going to actively promote anti gay policies?