Why I wont support the bell ringers and or Salvation Army

I just want to let some people know how this works and my personal experiance with it.

I had an employee that worked for me (I was the Foreman) she was a great person, who had some problems in her earlier life, but was trying very hard to overcome it. Lets call her Deneice for this thread

Deneice was never late, would come to work every day, sick or healthy, would do anything ask of her, even do things that she knew needed to be done without supervision. We were in the Grounds/ Maintenance type feild. She worked for 7.50 an hour, but because of her previous lifestyle (heroin addict recovered) she couldnt get better work. Deneice lived in a "B" house which is a garage converted into an apartment, very small and modest. she helped her brother pay his bills, he was sick and couldnt work. and basically had nothing. She is 50 years old or so. And would give you the shirt off her back if you ask or needed it.

At the "grounds" we worked at we had salvation army passing out toys to family's that needed help. Deneice went and ask if she could get a little something for her neice and nephew she definately qualified. but was told NO. Now mind you that she did have a job, so i wasnt suprised, But 90% of the people who came to this event were in Escalades and Camaro's, there were a few corvettes and some bmw's.

I know for fact that there was a few drug deallers there ( I worked closely with the police here).

I also know for a fact that when it was over there were probably 5 large totes full of toys that were taken away anfrom the grounds that were not handed out. i viewed with my own eyes that these toys were placed in the dump right after the event. I personally went and looked in said dumpsters and there were brand new toys piled in there.

I will never give to them again. they do not help the ones that really need it

I hope you took the toys from the dumpster and gave them to Deinise.
Second line.

reply to post by rushunt


Seems to me like you are judging an entire charitable foundation on the actions of just a few individuals.

You would not condemn all doctors if you found out a few plotted and killed somebody would you? Just saying....

reply to post by eaglewoman


i did take Deneice to the dumpster and let her pick what she wanted


No Please dont get me wrong. I only ment that is how it works here in my area Texas. Im sure its ok somewhere. I do support toys for tots . but I jsut want people to look into what they choose to support as it might be the same in other areas

I see a lot of this where I live. I live in a border town on the US/ MX border. There are a lot of people who milk the welfare system. Example: A pregnant woman who is a MX citizen has a child in the US. Now that child is entitled to a number of gov. welfare benefits. This woman was given a heads up how to get all the benefits she could e.g. food stamps, medicaid & welfare check. Then decides to have more kids for more benefits. All she needs to do is work for money payed under the table, drug dealing or otherwise, and she lives as well as the rest of us hard working citizens.

I don't support the salvation army either,I have other reasons.

I'll just put it this way.....

Someone within the S.A. used their position near those less fortunate to take advantage of members of my family when they were very young.

It did a lot of damage,and the guy had been in prison for it before.

Originally posted by rushunt
reply to post by eaglewoman

 

i did take Deneice to the dumpster and let her pick what she wanted


No Please dont get me wrong. I only ment that is how it works here in my area Texas. Im sure its ok somewhere. I do support toys for tots . but I jsut want people to look into what they choose to support as it might be the same in other areas

Fair enough, it sounded to me in th OP that you were trying to condemn the whole organization.

The part of the quote I put in bold made me laugh so hard. lol.

reply to post by chiponbothshoulders


Man that's horrible. I'm so sorry to hear that

reply to post by rushunt


Your story, while it may be true, doesn't make a lot of sense. On the other side of things, the Sally Ann has the highest in/out ratio of funding of the big charities...which is to say that they pay their director the least. Something in the order of cash+housing= $150K.

Now compare that to the United Way, who I generally don't support.

I have fiberomyalgia.....and there are times when certain 'sounds' can cause painful flareups in my body.....bell ringing has always done this to me. I dont go near very many stores in the Holiday season because of this.
I certainly NEVER gave any money to any bell ringers as they are causing me such serious pain I try and stay as FAR from them as possible. If a store wants to keep me out of it all it needs is a bell ringer.
I remember my mother dragging me past them when I was a kid and I was screaming that the bells hurt me.....she thought I was crazy.
Not ALL 'bell' ringing bothers me. I can listen to music, including the classic Christmas songs that have bells in them, but I cant stand the tone of those cheap hand ringing bells......maybe its the monotony?
the bell rings and it causes a stabbing pain behind my eyes and in my lower back....

hmmmm......this could be the main reason I always have such a dislike for 'shopping'..
.....I bet so actually.

not trying to hijack the subject here, but you mention those bell ringers and THIS is where my mind goes

reply to post by theRiverGoddess


Well, my mom had it pretty tough as a kid and she told me that the care & concern she received from SA was genuine and helped her overcome much adversity as a child. Since then, I've seen some deserving families--even working ones--have some very nice Christmases because of them.

So, I'm with the don't-let-a-few-bad-apples-spoil-the-bunch bunch on this one so far. It is sad to see people get hurt by folk they trusted, so hopefully these are isolated incidences.

I would never give to a major, nationally known charity. I have no idea what the actual percentages of money in/aid given is, but im sure its less than you would expect. Scamming people who have some goodwill is what they do. I remember reading something on the red cross and they had a lot of people making over 100,000k and probably around 10 at 250k plus. I think the word "charity" to these type of people means charity for THEMSELVES.

Now more local charities, most of these are genuine. I will give to these all day.

I'm sorry but I've seen what the Sally Ann does and I have to call BS on this. They help out everyone they can. I'm not a religious person but I know charity when I see it and the SA does it without asking for anything. Except that you put a few bucks into the kettle. I've done it and will do it again.

I would rather give the shoes off my feet to someone in " real" need
than give to the salvation army.

William Booth (10 April 1829 – 20 August 1912) was a British Methodist preacher who founded the Salvation Army and became its first General (1878–1912). The Christian movement, with a quasi-military structure and government - but with no physical weaponry - founded in 1865, has spread from London, England, to many parts of the world and is known for being one of the largest distributors of humanitarian aid. William was born in Sneinton, Nottingham, England, the only son of four surviving children born to Samuel Booth and Mary Moss.[1] His father was wealthy by the standards of the time, but during Booth's childhood, as a result of his father's bad investments, the family descended into poverty and William's father became an alcoholic.

en.wikipedia.org...

This is my maternal Grandmother's side of the family. Techinically this guy would be my great, great grandfather.

So come on how bad could they be, if they originated with relatives of Proto?

On second thought...

reply to post by rushunt


A group of locals and myself,didnt think the salvation army was pushing it hard enough...that is when the salvation militia was formed.