KEEP SALVATION ARMY KETTLES AT TARGET THIS CHRISTMAS!
Hugh Hewitt is leading a drive to get Target Stores not to kick the traditional Salvation Army Christmas kettles and bell-ringers out this year. Below is the email I sent to Target. Please read it to see why I did. Then, I urge you to send your own email to Target. (And please, do it now - politely, of course. The Christmas season is already upon us!)
Dear Sir/Madam;
Up front, my knowledge about those charities that serve the poor is unusually long-term and broad. Over 17 years, I started and ran three such charities, including two homeless shelters totaling 300 beds. As usual, we worked closely with other charities and so came to know them well. My acquaintance with the Salvation Army is both close and professional. They won my highest admiration, even given the fact that the charities I ran were “competing” with them for funding.
The Salvation Army is unique in this country and in the world. It is by far the largest and most effective provider of services to the destitute in this country. The fact that it is still, I believe, the recipient of the largest amount of federal funding of any charity testifies to its role as the primary and foundational server of the poor in the nation. (Catholic Charities is, I believe, the second largest recipient. However, the Salvation Army provides more homeless beds and direct services than any other group.)
Few people are aware that the Salvation Army is also the primary, and best, provider of immediate help in foreign disaster situations as well. They are so well equipped, so experienced in this, that they are usually called on to be the first on the scene. Foreign countries know this, and welcome them. There is almost no publicity involved, so the Salvation Army gets little credit for it. It is an amazing organization!
I am simply astonished that any other charities might object to the Salvation Army kettles in front of your stores, or object that they were not allowed to do the same! Of all the charities I knew, including some large ones such as Rescue Missions and Catholic Charities, none would have dreamed of taking such an action. Such was the value we placed on the Salvation Army’s bedrock work, and the way the whole charity scene needed that foundational work to be there. Most of us tried to work together. We were happy for the Salvation Army to have the store-front scene to themselves.
The Salvation Army does have a religious component. But no one is required to believe what they believe in order to receive assistance. And the concrete assistance they provide simply cannot be matched by any other group. If there were ever a group deserving of your approval and support – even if it is greater support than you give others – it is the Salvation Army. They simply do more.
Whatever possible problems Target might fear, the country's support for the Salvation Army is so large that your net gain from staying with them should far exceed any possible loss.
I urge you to continue to allow Americans to give to the Salvation Army kettles in front of Target stores in the traditional way. Rather than provoking resentment from your customers by sending them away, you will earn their appreciation and support for keeping them there.
In addition, it is absolutely the right thing to do.
Sincerely,
(Rev.) Gerry Phelps, minister and economist
Founder:
The Good Shepherd Shelter, Bakersfield, CA (156 beds)
The San Jose Family Shelter, San Jose, CA (143 beds)
The LIFT Project, Austin, TX
Dear Sir/Madam;
Up front, my knowledge about those charities that serve the poor is unusually long-term and broad. Over 17 years, I started and ran three such charities, including two homeless shelters totaling 300 beds. As usual, we worked closely with other charities and so came to know them well. My acquaintance with the Salvation Army is both close and professional. They won my highest admiration, even given the fact that the charities I ran were “competing” with them for funding.
The Salvation Army is unique in this country and in the world. It is by far the largest and most effective provider of services to the destitute in this country. The fact that it is still, I believe, the recipient of the largest amount of federal funding of any charity testifies to its role as the primary and foundational server of the poor in the nation. (Catholic Charities is, I believe, the second largest recipient. However, the Salvation Army provides more homeless beds and direct services than any other group.)
Few people are aware that the Salvation Army is also the primary, and best, provider of immediate help in foreign disaster situations as well. They are so well equipped, so experienced in this, that they are usually called on to be the first on the scene. Foreign countries know this, and welcome them. There is almost no publicity involved, so the Salvation Army gets little credit for it. It is an amazing organization!
I am simply astonished that any other charities might object to the Salvation Army kettles in front of your stores, or object that they were not allowed to do the same! Of all the charities I knew, including some large ones such as Rescue Missions and Catholic Charities, none would have dreamed of taking such an action. Such was the value we placed on the Salvation Army’s bedrock work, and the way the whole charity scene needed that foundational work to be there. Most of us tried to work together. We were happy for the Salvation Army to have the store-front scene to themselves.
The Salvation Army does have a religious component. But no one is required to believe what they believe in order to receive assistance. And the concrete assistance they provide simply cannot be matched by any other group. If there were ever a group deserving of your approval and support – even if it is greater support than you give others – it is the Salvation Army. They simply do more.
Whatever possible problems Target might fear, the country's support for the Salvation Army is so large that your net gain from staying with them should far exceed any possible loss.
I urge you to continue to allow Americans to give to the Salvation Army kettles in front of Target stores in the traditional way. Rather than provoking resentment from your customers by sending them away, you will earn their appreciation and support for keeping them there.
In addition, it is absolutely the right thing to do.
Sincerely,
(Rev.) Gerry Phelps, minister and economist
Founder:
The Good Shepherd Shelter, Bakersfield, CA (156 beds)
The San Jose Family Shelter, San Jose, CA (143 beds)
The LIFT Project, Austin, TX
posted by Old Neocon at 11:18 AM
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