Screw You Salvation Army!!!

I was just wondering how many people knew about this. Salvation Army bell ringers- people who ring bells at Christmas time for coin/money donations- have been banned from ringing their bells outside of Target stores. My grandmother told me about this-and she refuses to go in there.

Well, my mother took me in there tonight. (I didn't know we were going there 0.o till we were in the parking lot) and it stunk. The stink of greed? Either way, it smelt very bad, young children were commenting on it. I rested my hand on the cash register and it came away sticky of all things.

My mother said they made the bellringers leave because people would be giving their money to the bellringers and not spending it inside, but I was wondering, why did they do it? You can't spend very much money on a bellringer after all.

Anyway, I got a very nice coat for the reduced price of $8.47, so I'm happy. Discuss.

 

i hate it when people are ringing bells outside shops, it makes me feel guilty every time i pass by, but i dont carry change in my pocket

 

I gave money to one so he would not ring the bell until I got into my car.

 

0.o I think people are missing the point. I always try to give a little to them because they help me when I need it. Plus, their homeless shelter has yummy food. But Christmas is about giving, and they made them go away! If you don't have the money, don't feel guilty. The bellringing is to make the fat slobs who are thinking of how many Big Macs they can buy at Mcdonalds with that money feel a little guilty and give a little. I'm not going to Target ever again because frankly, the store was just gross. Still, I am morally outraged at this offense. *cough* But anyways, I can't believe they would actually do that. I didn't even know that was legal. Oh well. I guess no one even cares.


Next Christmas I'm going to ring my bell anyways. (I ring bells for them throgh my school program, pretty cool, ne?) I guess I'll have to go stand outside Wal*mart.

 

I give to individual drifters, if they ask me something I will see what I can spare, and sometimes if they play an instrument or something I'm more than happy to give them some money for a sanwich or drugs or whatever they need it for. We don't have these bell-ringers here, but for a shop to send them away so customers will have more money left to spend in the shop is preposterous.

Bombing threats is the only answer, dear people, you know it is.

 

Wal-Mart recently donated $1.000.000 to
the Salvation Army in a move reminiscient
of Miracle on 34th Street-Perhaps in response
to this move by Target. They truly are marketing
masters.

 

salvation army is one of the few charities that give most of their money to the needy. They have helped me out with christmas one year when we were going through hard times. Most of those bellringers are volunteers, so I have no problem with putting a little money in the bucket, even if it's just a little change.

Target fucking blows.

 

i thought it was because target doesn't allow any other charities to collect outside their stores for parking lot safety/space considerations, and they decided it was unfair to the other charities to make the one exception for the bell-ringers. at least that's what i read in the news.


sorry, there are a lot of reasons why target sucks, but a greedy conspiracy to try to get people to not put their pocket change in the red kettles so they can spend it in the stores isn't one of them.

doesn't the salvation army discriminate against unmarried or gay families? i was unable to get help from them as a single parent. i heard they discriminate based on religion as a hiring practice too. you might be able to argue that they can do that because they're a religious organization - if they didn't accept the government funding. in some places where the people they discriminate against - gays, mainly - are not a state-protected class, they have opted to refuse the funding so that they can continue to discriminate while "helping" people.

my dad used to be a bell-ringer, and dragged us along. it sucked. i was raised in a christian family, and the salvation army helped us out many times. but when i became an adult and embraced a different religion, i found out very quickly that the rules are often different for non-christians, even if unofficially. legally, because as a charity, they recieve government funding, they are not allowed to preach, or make conversion attempts or discriminate based on religion (and other protected classes) when people in need come to them for help. but let me tell you, if you walk in the door with a pentacle around your neck, those people will go through the roof, no matter how cold and hungry you are. that's not the kind of "help" i needed back then. and yes i did opt to go cold for another week (i needed blankets) while i found help from elsewhere (a friend came to my aid) rather than go back there and face that kind of treatment again.

no, the salvation army is not "supposed" to do that. but it happens anyway. i'm no big fan of target - actually, i refuse to shop there, or at wal-mart for that matter - but i'm not buying this crying "victim" that the salvation army's been doing this holiday season. why should they be the only charity exempt from the rules?

when a bell ringer asks me for change, i tell them i'd rather give my money to an organization that does not discriminate.

 

How do they discriminate against gay and non-married people? Do you have any proof suggesting this to be the case? I've certainly never heard of that. I know the Salvation Army is Christian-based, but I did not know they refuse to help people if they are gay and/or unmarried. If that is the case, I find it to be blasphemous. It wouldn't surprise me, though.

I am not saying you're wrong. I've just never heard of that.

I do know the Salvation Army helps a lot of people who are in need, and I think that is great. I personally am appalled at Target for not allowing bell-ringers, and it gives me another reason, among many, not to shop there.

As a matter of fact, I've never even stepped foot into a Target store in my life. I don't plan on it, either. Of course I was stupid enough to apply there in the summer I graduated high school in '99, when they opened up at the mall. Thanks to Corporate America and its penchant for the invasion of personal privacy, I didn't get the job. And I am thankful for that!

 

some of those people are so forceful with those bells... like trying to get in your way and such... i kind of prefered seeing soem of the local band kid offering their time and playing their trumpet or other instrument and not using it to terrorize people. so, yes, the bells kind of annoy me.

 

What? That's a bunch of crap! (at least based on my experiences.)

I've found the exact opposite to be true. Usually, these people are kind enough to smile and say hello. Often times, they will even open the door for you.

I have a lot of respect for anyone who is willing to take time out from their schedule to volunteer and help people in need -- without being paid -- while standing out in the freezing cold, ringing a bell.

The bells annoy you? Please, grow up! If you can't stand to hear the ringing of a bell for the five seconds it takes to enter a store, you must really have a low tolerance for things that are "annoying." That sound of the bell actually adds some holiday charm to the murky cesspool that is Corporate America.

It's pretty sad that people can immerse themselves in holiday capitalism, yet, they can't find it in their hearts to donate some spare change, or at least be appreciative towards the people trying to assist those who are in need.

Get over yourselves already!

 

I do not like bells or chimes. I pretty much start having an anxiety attack when I hear them. I am sorry, it can't be helped. Anyway, I paid the person to stop ringing the bell...it was a win win situation.

 

not here.

 

kitty, I have no idea where you live but that discrimination thing you mentioned doesn't happen around here, at least not to my knowledge. I've known several gay people (mostly men for some reason) who work in and help run the salvation army here. Maybe you just had a bad experience with an asshole up there or something. I don't know.


And to the people who say they don't the bell ringers because they make you feel guilty.....maybe you should stop a sec and think about the REASONS why you're feeling guilty. I mean, if you go and blow a bunch of money in wal-mart but you don't have a dollar or even a few nickels and dimes to put in the bucket, you should feel bad. (unless you already contribute to charities and your community)

 

the gay discrimination thing was a big deal last year or the year before; there was even a campaign started to fill the kettles with notes saying that people don't support discrimination. i really surprised people don't remember it. the discrimination against gays was mostly a big deal on the west coast i believe. i can probably dig up some news articles, but not tonight because i have a mild fever and feel like shit.


matt, the reason why you haven't heard of it happening locally because sexual orientation is a protected class in new york state. i'm not sure how it works, but it has to do with local and state laws.

the religious discrimination that i experienced happened locally, and it could very well just have been a zealous worker ignoring policy - but that doesn't excuse it. it happened to me twice - once in buffalo - the worker was not aggressive but still persistent. we were turned away from the salvation army in buffalo because my then-fiance and i weren't yet married. i experienced a similar rejection, and a more aggressive worker, here in rochester. my social worker told me it shouldn't have happened and that she could get it straightened out, and my father offered to call one of his old friends, but by then i'd had enough, and called a friend to come stay with me. i think she brought blankets or something. i honestly don't remember how i got the coffee pot and shoes i needed - i think those came from a relative. when i was rejected for help when damien needed a crib, religion wasn't mentioned, but my unmarried status was. i had a child, but we were not, according to the worker i spoke with on the phone, considered a "real" family. that was just one phone call, but i didn't press the issue because, as before, i'd had enough. damien slept in a travel crib for the entire month of january until my worker and i managed to get a voucher from another organization.

of course the real issue i have with the salvation army bell-ringers, is that my dad used to be one. we (my brother and i) were forced to go to salvation army sunday school. it was awful. in their defense, again, this may have been a case of zealous individuals, not the church itself. in spite of their military-like structure (shudder) there is a lot of variation in attitudes from one area to the next. but nonetheless every time i see one of those bell-ringers i want to get my kids away from them as quickly as i can. they give me chills. and they really believe they're "fighting" a "war" against "sin and evil". i think that's what creeps me out more than anything.

however, as far as the situation with target is concerned, i still see no reason why the salvation army should be the one exemption to their no-charity rule. why is it that they should be allowed to solicit donations in front of the store when others cannot? why should they be the one exception?

 

My father and I have volunteered as bell-ringers, and I don't think I ever noticed anyone becoming "annoyed" with us. Most people actually responded quite nicely and seemed happy to donate.

I don't know where you're getting this "terrorize people" business...

 

there are those that are. i'm not saying that everyone that does it is annoying.... most are not, but there seemed to be a rash of them in this area this year. (some were rather nice and fine)

 

Who ever said the Salvation Army would discriminate against single parents is a liar plain and simple. I would dare you to back your claims up with anything other than your mind! I have documents dating back to the 40's of how they assisted a single parent family even back then. As for thier stance on sexual preference, I honestly could not answere that. I do know that they are one of the few charity groups that actually funnel the money to the people and not into high dollar pay checks and cars.


As for Targets stance, they did stop all charities from using Target to collect. They started with the Marines toy drive and now they dont allow any.

As for the poor little girl who made the rude comment about "the fat slobs thinking of how many big macs they could buy" The bell ringers do not have that in mind at all, it is a long time tradition way before Mc Donalds was ever started.

 

Hmmm...I'm torn on this. Part of me thinks that religion should be kept out of it as much as possible and people shouldn't be judged based on religious standards, if you're needy, you're needy.

Then again another part of me says "Beggars can't be choosers"...