On Target

After learning that Target stores had reportedly refused to allow Salvation Army ringers in front of their stores this Christmas season, I took the time to do some investigation. I researched the topic on the INTERNET and I also interviewed several Salvation Army members locally to ascertain the truth of the matter.After which, I went to Target's corporate website and expressed my displeasure with Target's actions and expressed my intent to remove them from future consideration as a place that I would engage my business with. I received the following email from a Target representative today.

Subject:

The Salvation Army

Dear ****, Like many nationwide retailers, Target Corporation has a long-standing "nosolicitation" policy that it consistently applies to all organizationsacross all of its stores. We receive an increasing number of solicitation inquiries from non-profitorganizations and other groups each year and determined that if we continueto allow the Salvation Army to solicit then it opens the door to any othergroups that wish to solicit our guests.

While some of our guests maywelcome the opportunity to support their favorite charity or cause,allowing these organizations to solicit means that Target would also haveto permit solicitation by organizations whose cause or behavior may beunacceptable to our guests. We notified the Salvation Army of our decision in January 2004, well inadvance of the holiday season, so the organization would have time to findalternative fundraising sources.

Target also asked the Salvation Army tolook at other ways that we could support their organization under ourcorporate giving guidelines. To this date they have not provided a proposalthat fits those guidelines.Local Salvation Army chapters can apply for grants through their localTarget stores. For decades, many non-profit organizations across thecountry have successfully worked with Target in this manner. We are askingthe Salvation Army to work with us in the same exact manner as the othergroups and organizations who ask to solicit our guests.

This decision in noway diminishes Target Corporation's commitment to itscommunities. Target has one of the largest corporate philanthropy programsin America, donating more than $2 million per week and hundreds ofthousands of volunteer hours each year to the communitiesin which it doesbusiness.

Sincerely,Jennifer Hanson
Target Executive Offices

My Response

Thank you for your timely response Ms. Hanson.

While your explanation is represented as a plausible response to dispel an apparent misunderstanding of fact, in reality your explanation only serves to establish the faux reality supporting Target's defense.Companies that sincerely desire to be active members of any community, embrace the needs and customs of that community.

Target may contribute millions to the popular theist, secular and politically correct foundations and political causes masquerading as charities, but the reality of your represented sacrifices are contrast by your unappreciative reactions to other America institutions like the Salvation Army.

While Target may feel comfortably smug by partially shielding itself from scrutiny, the guise represented to justify your fear of forced inclusiveness of other organizations is as hollow as your representations of overwhelming philanthropy.The unholy pursuit of egalitarian philanthropy is the foundation of demise for Target and other similarly reacting corporations in America.

With the ever declining dollar and the ever increasing scrutiny of the American shopper, actions such as those taken by Target against the Salvation Army weigh heavily with a significant number of Americans.Something tells me that Target's philanthropy will diminish greatly in the near future, as will its profits.

Have a blessed Christmas

Copyright 2004 trickworm