This may have been posted already, thought it was interesting. With Walmart right across the street, I dont bother with target much...this sorta seals it.
Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote.
"Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud
sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans MemorialWall during our
spring recognition event. We received the following reply
from the local TARGET management: 'Veterans do not meet our
area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action
groups, gay & lesbian causes, and education.' "
So I'm thinking, if theVietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and
veterans in general do not meet their donation criteria,
then something is really wrong at this TARGET store. We were
not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, just
a small sponsorship for a memorial remembrance.
As a follow-up, I E-mailed the TARGET U.S. corporate
headquarters and their response was the same. That's their
national policy.
Then I looked into the company further. They will not allow
the Marines to collect for 'Toys for Tots' at any of their
stores. And during the recent Iraq deployment, they would
not allow families of employees who were called up for
active duty to continue their insurance coverage while
they were on military service. Then as I dig further, TARGET is a French-owned corporation.
Now, I'm thinking again. If TARGET cannot support American
Veterans, then why should my family and I support their
stores by spending our hard earned American dollars! and to have their profits sent to France. Without the American
Vets, where would France be today?"
Sincerely,
Dick Forrey
Veterans Helping Veterans
Please send this on to everyone you know to let Target know
how AMERICAN'S feel about their non-support of America and
our support of them. Isn't it amazing how people can forget
when we support them.
__________________
Rico, The fastest Bow in Texas.
Update!!!! dam***it, this was a false story put out over the net...hate that when that happens..
Does Target NOT charitably support veteran's groups but does support "gay and lesbian causes?" FALSE article revised 01/07/2004
The original message that began this uproar came from a man named Dick Forrey from the Howard County Vietnam Veteran's in Indiana. Mr. Forrey went to his local Target store to ask for financial sponsorship for a traveling Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall exhibit. Individual Target stores can give gift certificates to support area charities. That is the same thing Walmart does. The store did offer the gift certificate, but Mr. Forrey was interested only in a cash donation. The store failed to tell him that the corporate office had a charitable giving policy in the form of grants. Forrey finally found this out and contacted the corporate office. In their correspondence to Mr. Forrey, they outlined their corporate grant policy as being limited to the following: "education, arts and family violence prevention." It is possible that this project may have been considered as educational, but Mr. Forrey decided not to even try for the grant and sent off an email stating that, "Personally, I will NOT be buying anything at Target Stores again. If the Vietnam Veteran does not meet their area of giving then why should I as a Vietnam veteran, spend my hard earned money in their stores?" It is very possible, considering Target's support of the traveling Vietnam wall project (more on that below), that the project would have qualified. It was Mr. Forrey's decision not to go any further with the grant request and to put out this email instead.
In his email, Mr. Forrey correctly quoted Target's grant policy as being, "education, arts and family violence prevention." In March 2003, someone changed Mr. Forrey's words to read, "the arts, social actions, gay and lesbian causes, and education." Not only does this message misquote Mr. Forrey, it is a patently false misrepresentation of Target's charitable grants policy. Target did not respond back to Mr. Forrey that "veterans do not meet our area of giving." As you will later see, it would be absurd for them to say such a thing since they are corporate sponsors of the traveling Viet Nam memorial called "The Wall That Heals."
I do want to say a couple of personal words about Mr. Forrey's attitude towards Target. The fact that Target restricts actual corporate giving to certain areas is not at all unusual. You cannot imagine how many charitable requests are received by even the smallest of companies on a daily basis. I know, I used to be one of the people making those requests. There's only so much of a pie to go around. The gift certificate policy of Target is quite generous. There are always small needs at special events that can be helped with these gift certificates. To tell a corporation what it can and can't give is a little high-handed. Even when I asked for a sponsorship, I was grateful if all I got was a prize or certificate. At least the company wanted to help, even in a small way. I realize that someone like Mr. Forrey is a volunteer fund raiser, but even he should realize that not everyone can give and that some will only be able to give certain things. This strong-arm approach (give or else I'll make your name mud) is unwarranted. Mr. Forrey had the opportunity to submit his project to the company for a grant, just like everyone else. He was the one who decided that the project did not fit their categories of giving, not Target. Target is a major corporate sponsor for the "Wall That Heals" 2003 tour and many veterans organizations, including the national chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars, have come to the company's defense over this issue. (information gleaned from Break-The-Chain and Snopes- links shown below). I have also found out about other veterans issues and groups that Target supports. These include: Yankee Air Force Museum in Ypsilanti, Michigan; Hays County Veterans in San Marcos, Texas; Kenny Nickelson Memorial Foundation for Homeless Veterans in Manhattan Beach, California. Finally, they are very supportive of the veterans and military reservists working for them. A recent email lauded Sears for continuing benefits for reservists, but Target does the same. The Reserve Officers Association has recognized Target for these benefits, and the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve also lists Target on their Web site.
Versions of the message that began coming out in April 2003 also claim that Target is French owned. My best guess is that this was supposed to lend weight to the "anti-vet" stance because, at the time, the French bashing campaign (resulting from their lack of support for the war against Iraq) was in full swing. However, a little research revealed that this is untrue. Target Stores is owned by a company out of Minneapolis that also owns Marshal Fields and Meryvn's. It began in 1902 as the Dayton Dry Goods Company out of Minneapolis. The company name was changed to Dayton's in 1953. The first Target Store opens in 1962. In 1971, the company merges with J.L. Hudson, a Detroit company which owns shopping centers and Mervyn's. They now become the Dayton-Hudson Company. They acquire Marshal Field's in 1990.In 1996, the main focus of their community giving becomes education. In 2000 they officially change their name to Target Corporation. The HQ is still in Minneapolis. The company does have publicly traded stocks, so persons residing in France could certainly own stocks.
In a message to me, Target spokesperson Aimee Sands detailed their policy about the Toys For Tots issue. "Target greatly respects the good work of the Toys for Tots program and all the volunteers who make this program a success every year. Target has a longstanding policy of no-solicitation by any group or organization at our stores. This policy includes the use of our store locations as collection or drop off sites for any type of activity. The only organization that we currently allow to solicit at our stores during the holiday season is the Salvation Army, due to our longstanding relationship with this organization."
If we were to follow the advice of this message, we could not shop at any department store, since none of them, to my knowledge, are Toys For Tots collection centers. In my area, the collection center is at a bank.
Finally, here are Target's official words on the subject: "Target Corporation wholeheartedly supports U.S. veterans, reservists and active duty personnel. We are proud of our record and remain committed to continuing support of veterans"™ organizations as part of our overall charitable giving program."
I spend a good portion of November and December 2003 doing nearly nothing but answering inquires on this message. That is too bad since a one minute search through any search engine would have provided all of this factual information. I don't mean to be too harsh, but I cannot see how the forwarding of this message can be constituted as anything but "bearing false witness."
__________________
Rico, The fastest Bow in Texas.
target's better than walmart....they at least know how to get better quality out of their slave labor.
Bah, it's the same cheap crap, only with fancier packaging and a higher price tag. At least at Wal-Mart I don't have to dodge yuppies driving 50 mph in their BMW's looking for that perfect parking spot. I also don't have to look at the irritating Target Red plastered across the store and its employees. They could've at least picked a shade closer to drying blood.
How do you say target in french?
