TARGET

[kninebirddog]

Amazing Issue with Target Stores

If they have a good sale in their ads, take the ad to
Walmart, where they will meet the price...............

"bleep" Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote.

"Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud
sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall 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 the Vietnam 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,
"bleep" 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.

[ezzy333]

The Target stores won't allow The Salvavtion Army on their property at Christmas ttime either. I like your proposal.

Ezzy

[Wagonmaster]

Where did you get this information???? It is totally completely bogus. Target was founded by Dayton-Hudson Corporation, and it is now Target Corporation. Principal stockholders are the Dayton family in Minnesota, as in U.S. Senator Mark Dayton. Their headquarters office is across the street from my office here in Minneapolis. Next to that, is the Target Center, which Target sponsored. It is where the Minnesota Timberwolves play. Don't believe everything you read.

Here is part of the info. on the Target website about this mis-information campaign:

TARGET CORPORATION SUPPORTS VETERANS
~ Company is not foreign-owned ~

Since 2002, Target has been the victim of a misleading e-mail campaign. This e-mail campaign grossly misrepresents our support of veterans and our soldiers. In fact, the author of the original e-mail contacted Target in December 2003 to express his regret for sending the initial e-mail in 2002 and to share his concern about the false information being attributed to him. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Internet and e-mail communication, the original e-mail has been repeatedly and inaccurately modified and perpetuated by unknown writers.

The National Veterans of Foreign Wars posted a press release on their website on December 6, 2002 to help clarify this issue and show their support of Target at http://www.vfw.org/news/target.htm.

Target Corporation is a publicly held U.S. company (NYSE: TGT). The company has been based in Minneapolis, Minnesota ever since its founding as The Dayton Company by businessman George Dayton in 1902. Target is not now, nor has it ever been, foreign-owned.

Our company has supported many charitable causes throughout our history, including veterans' organizations. For years, Target has donated funds and volunteer hours to local and national veteran and military organizations around the country.

National Charitable Giving Examples:
World War II Memorial
“The Wall that Heals” 2003-2005 National Tour, a Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund outreach initiative that honors our veterans and has a strong educational component for schools. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=3.
American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services
In addition to supporting veteran and military organizations on a national scale, we also support local organizations.

Local Charitable Giving Examples
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

http://target.com/target_group/communit ... port.jhtml

[Wagonmaster]

PS I would also suggest you go to http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=3 and see who the principal sponsors of "The Wall That Heals" are.

Come on folks, get a grip.

[JakeDD]

Thank you for clearing the air on this, John. No business is perfect, and I didn't care for the way Target handled the Salvation Army issue, but you are 100% correct that people need to do their due diligence before slamming them publicly.

[Wagonmaster]

The "Salvation Army issue" was that Target allowed the SV to ring bells in front of their stores at Christmas for years. But then became inundated with requests from other charities, and because of Federal anti-discrimination laws and Target's size, they could not pick and choose. Here is what happened with that:

"Target has received attention for applying this policy [of non-solicitation at their stores] to all groups, including the Salvation Army. We receive an increasing number of solicitation inquiries from nonprofit organizations and groups each year and determined that if we continue to allow the Salvation Army to solicit, then it opens the door to any other groups that wish to solicit our guests. While some of our guests may welcome the opportunity to support their favorite charity or cause, allowing these organizations to solicit means that Target would also have to permit solicitation by organizations whose causes or behavior may be unacceptable to our guests. Target notified the Salvation Army of this decision in January 2004, well in advance of the holiday season, so that the organization would have time to find alternative fundraising sources. Target also asked the Salvation Army to look for other ways we could support their organization under our corporate giving guidelines. At this date, they have not provided a proposal that fits those guidelines."

http://target.com/target_group/communit ... tion.jhtml



So blame the lawyers in Washington if you have to blame someone, but Target cannot let the S.V. in and keep the Hare Krishnas out. And I for one do not want to try get through a line of Hare Krishnas the next time I want to buy some dishware for the hunting camp.