Boycott Watch has received several
versions of an email and information requests over the past few months
regarding claims that Target Stores are either French owned or against US
veterans. These claims are false. Target is US owned and continues to support
numerous projects benefiting active duty soldiers and veterans.
Additionally, individual Target stores do not set
policy of charitable gifts. That is left to the corporate headquarters in
Minneapolis. Target is a US based company and is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange with the ticker symbol TGT. It is clearly a US company.
Boycott Watch has determined that the email is a
hoax. We contacted Target Stores and we posted their reply below so you can
decide for yourself what the truth is.
--- Original Email ---
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 the arts, social actions, gay
and lesbian causes, and education."
My thought: If
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and veterans in general, do not meet their
donation criteria, something is wrong atTarget. We were not asking for
thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, but simply sponsorship of an
endorsement for "memorial remembrance." As follow-up, I E-mailed the corporate
headquarters and their response was the same. Personally, I will NOT be
purchasing anything at Target Stores again. If the Vietnam Veteran or Veterans
in general do 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.
Sincerely,
Veterans Helping Veterans
PS: Target will also not allow the Marines to collect for Toys For Tots
during the holidays.
--- End Of Original Email ---
--- Reply by Target Stores ---
Thank
you for contacting Target Stores to inquire about our support of Veterans and
our troops.
Since 2002, Target has been the victim of
a misleading e-mail campaign initiated by a individual who didn't receive a
donation that he requested at a local Target store. This e mail campaign
grossly misrepresented our support of veterans and our soldiers. Just recently,
the author of the original e-mail contacted Target and expressed his regret for
sending the initial e-mail in 2002 and shared 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 by unknown writers.
The
National Veterans of Foreign Wars posted a press release on their Web site on
December 6, 2002 to help clarify this issue and show their support of Target at
http://www.vfw.org/news/target.htm
Target is owned by Target Corporation, a company
based in Minneapolis, Minnesota since it's founding by George Dayton in 1902.
Target is not now and never has been foreign owned. Our company has supported
many charitable causes throughout its history, and that includes veterans
organizations. For years, Target has donated funds and volunteer hours to local
and national veteran and military organizations around the country.
Charitable Giving Examples:
Target displays our support of our veterans and troops on
our Web site at www.target.com. Click Community Giving, and Community Bulletin.
Some examples include: Target is a contributor to the World War II Memorial and
a sponsor of the national 2003 tour of "The Wall that Heals," 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 Web site at http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=3.
In addition to supporting veteran and military
organizations on a national scale, we also support local organizations, some of
which 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
Reservist Benefits:
Target
Corporation is proud to count many veterans and military reservists among its
more than 300,000 team members nationwide. To help support these team members,
Target Corporation provides benefits for activated reservists, including pay
differential, that surpass those benefits required by law. The Reserve Officers
Association has recognized our company for these benefits. Target team members
who are activated for military service and were participating in optional
dependent coverage at the time of their deployment, are eligible to continue
these benefits if they choose. Target Corporation also allows any Target team
member to continue benefits as provided by the 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act(COBRA). The National Committee for Employer Support of the
Guard and Reserve also lists Target on their Web site at
http://www.esgr.org/employers/outstandingEmployers.asp
Giving Policy:
Target gives
to diverse causes that reflect all types of guests in a wide variety of
communities. While every cause is worthy, Target receives thousands of grant
requests every year and unfortunately is unable to grant funds or partner with
every organization. For more information that describes the guidelines and the
application process, visit any Target store and ask for the grants brochure or
go to target.com and click on "Community Giving."
Marines Toys for Tots:
Target
has complete respect for the Toys for Tots program and all the volunteers who
make this program a success every year. Target has a longstanding policy on 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 allow to solicit at our stores are the
Salvation Army during the holiday season.
Thank you
again for taking the time to inquire about this issue. We appreciate your
efforts to understand the situation. We wholeheartedly support our veterans and
active duty personnel, and we appreciate the opportunity to personally convey
our commitment to you. Please share our information with anyone who has
contacted you about this issue.
--- End Of Reply by Target Stores
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| See Also:
Click Here to see the Target Stores web site posting |
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