AFA Encourages Boycott on Target Stores for Rejecting Salvation Army Ringers
The American Family Association is encouraging its supporters to do their holiday shopping someplace other than Target this year
The American Family Association is encouraging its supporters to do their holiday shopping someplace other than Target this year after the retail giant announced it will no longer allow Salvation Army bell ringers to collect Kettle Drive donations in front of its stores.
Target Corp.’s decision to apply its “no solicitation” policy to The Salvation Army was announced in January this year. The statement said, “We receive an increasing number of solicitation inquiries from nonprofit organizations each year and determined that if we continue to allow The Salvation Army to solicit, then it opens the door to other groups that wish to solicit our guests.” Target Corp. has over 1,000 outlets.
According to AFA Action Alert e-mail, “Target's new policy is opposite of that with community-minded giants like Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney's, and Big Lots. They believe the Salvation Army serves a critical need by offering kindness to a family in need,” said Don Wildmon, founder of AFA.
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Wildmon urged readers to contact the Target customer service and also the manager of their local Target store to tell them they will be doing their shopping at Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney's, and Big Lots.
Nearly a tenth of the $90 million the Salvation Army earned through the 2003 holiday appeal was donated to kettles at Target stores. At Wal-Mart stores, the Army received $14 million in kettle donations.
"We do welcome them in front of our stores," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Campbell in a Pittsburgh Tribune Review article. "We've always had a great relationship with them."
But kettle donations this year will be affected from Target’s decision to close its doors.
"We're going to lose 112 days of food service for the hungry because of [Target's] decision," Russ Russell, Salvation Army executive director for development told The Detroit News.
The Salvation Army officially launched its national Kettle Drive during the half-time show of the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving game. Kettle donations benefit local chapters of the Salvation Army.
