Subject: Veterans Not Worthy
Importance: High
By Dick Forrey, Vietnam Veterans Association
We asked our local Target store to be a sponsor of the Vietnam
Veterans' Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event. We received back a
reply from Target management that "veterans do not meet our area of giving.
We only donate to the areas of arts, social actions and education. "
My thought: if the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and the veteran himself, does
not meet the criteria of these areas, something is wrong at Target. We were not
asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, but simply sponsorship an
endorsement for a "memorial remembrance." As follow-up, I E-mailed the
corporate Headquarters and their response was the same.
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?
Please pass this on to as many people as you know. Maybe Target and other businesses will get the message.
Veterans Helping Veterans
This email was distributed via a long list of forwards. The Founder was asked to put this out here for you all. You make your own choice. I am not sure what to make out of it in this day and age of relentless hoaxes.
Dear James,
Thank you for allowing us to respond to the misinformation that is being
circulated about Target and our support of veterans and the Vietnam Wall.
In March of 2002, an Indiana veteran in Howard County asked one of our
stores for a $100 cash donation to support a display of the "moving
wall."
While our stores are not able to give cash contributions to any
organization, they are able to make limited contributions in the form of a
GiftCard. Our corporate giving program is handled through a grants based
process. To be eligible to receive a grant from Target, an organization
must meet tax-exempt guidelines. The veteran neither asked for nor did we
decline any request for a simple sponsorship or the use of the Target name.
Target has many established partnerships with veterans' organizations.
Target Corporation will also be one of the sponsors of the national 2003
tour of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's outreach initiative, "The Wall
That Heals." "The Wall That Heals" is a traveling Vietnam
Veterans
memorial and museum that has a strong educational component for schools and
also serves to honor all our veterans. For more information about Target's
support of veterans and "The Wall That Heals", please visit the
national
Veterans of Foreign Wars on their website at www.vfw.org/news/target.htm.
Thank you again for taking the time to write. Target appreciates your
interest and the opportunity to personally explain to you about our ongoing
commitment to all veterans.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Hanson
Group Team Leader
Guest Relations
www.target.com
Here's some links concerning the subject.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-target-veterans.htm
http://www.vfw.org/news/target.htm
(note that this is from the VFW itself)
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/boycotts/target.asp
(this one has comments from both Target and Mr. Forrey).
http://www.vvmf.org/travelingwall/index.html
http://www.vfw.org/news/target.htm
http://hoaxinfo.com/target.htm