Salvation Holdout Central
By Jocelyn Geboy in News on Nov 17, 2006 6:16PM
The Target Corporation has had as much red as it can stand, apparently. They're dissin' the Salvation Army ringers again this year. It's not to say they're going entirely AWOL, though. They set up a site where you can purchase virtual angels and donate to the Salvation Army.
We are pretty neutral on this whole thing, to be honest. Sometimes, we're in a great holiday mood, and we hear the bells, and it's just the most wonderful time of the year. Sometimes, we hear those fucking bells ringing over and over again everywhere we go, and we wonder if we will ever leave this cacophonous hell.
More interesting is a little investigative ditty Fox News Chicago did the other night (yeah, yeah, lay off) about four homes the Salvation Army bought for some of their officers. These houses cost approximately $500,000 a piece, and some people were concerned about the people from the Salvation Army living in a place that could be on Cribs.
Larry Yellen (cousin to Geraldo Rivera? John Stossel?) interviewed Colonel David Grindle about the matter, and his take was this: It was more practical to buy new homes rather than buy older homes that would need rehabbing and such. It is important to note, however, that the monies used to buy the homes comes from a separate capital fund that donors contribute to — the money does not come from the red kettles. The underground sprinkler system and jacuzzi? Well, they happened to come with a couple of the houses.
Also, the officers are assigned to the houses and then may move on, and the houses may accommodate bigger families, so they had to think about that as well. To their credit, the Salvation Army consistently gets A grades from a national charity watchdog group (American Institute of Philanthropy) whose function it is to say how well a charity/non-profit manages donations, etc.
Even though this all seems to technically be on the up and up, we gotta give a "what were they thinking?" to the Salvation Army. OK. Buy new houses. But these things are riDICKously huge. And fancy. If the Army is working on the premise that they are like a church (which is how the government sees them too), then we think they should get a little humility and not live it up so much. On the other hand, they have great thrift stores, nice brass bands, and really do help lots of people. So maybe just throw some money in those kettles — it won't go to buy a big ol' mansion.
Image via Saabista