By Marcie Jessee
This holiday season, the familiar sights and sounds of a Salvation Army bell-ringer will no longer greet Target shoppers.
Because of a change in company policy in January, Target Corp. will no longer allow solicitors from charities to stand outside their stores.
?We receive an increasing number of solicitation inquiries from non-profit organizations each year and determined that if we continue to allow the Salvation Army to solicit then it opens the door to other groups that wish to solicit our guests,? Target Corporation released in a media statement.
Kathy Scott, the financial development director for the Salt Lake area Salvation Army, said local Target stores fought against the policy but in the end it was a corporate decision.
?All of the local Target stores have been wonderful to us, but they just had no vote,? Scott said.
Target is the No. 2 discount retailer in the United States and the Salvation Army raised $9 million from kettles outside Target stores last year: $60,000 from locations in Utah alone.
Kettle drives are the main fundraising source for the Salvation Army, and the charity uses the money to fund their programs throughout the year. Scott said the amount of money they raise over the holidays determines the services they can provide.
The fundraising money allows the charity to serve meals each night to 400-600 needy people in the Salt Lake area through their soup kitchens. The Salvation Army also uses that money for food pantries, clothing donations and for assorted classes they provide to the community.
Earlier this week, there were concerns that Albertsons was considering a similar ban. However, Julie Pender, administrative staff for public affairs for the intermountain west division of Albertsons, said bell ringers would be at Albertsons, at least for this season.
?That means it?s good news for all of us here and for the Salvation Army,? Pender said. ?We?re looking forward to working with them,?
Generally each region or division would decide what solicitation to allow at each store, but Pender said this announcement overrides policy. Currently, Albertsons executive team is notifying the President of the Salvation Army to communicate the message.
Scott said the Salvation Army is implementing other means to make up for the loss of Target location bell ringers this year. One of the new fundraising devices they have developed is a paper kettle drive. Participating retailers will ask their customers to donate, and they will post the names of the donors on paper kettles to be displayed around their store.
?It?s for small companies in smaller communities that couldn?t really support the live bell ringer, or didn?t want the noise. This is real appealing to them,? Scott said.
Scott said the initial response from people who have heard about the paper kettles has been very positive and they are hoping that will make up for some of their loss.
Bell ringers will also be staying at sites for longer hours in an effort to increase donations at participating companies.
?We?re really needing a huge number of volunteer bell ringers, or companies that will let their employees ring for a couple of hours while they?re on the clock,? Scott said.
Scott estimated there were around 120 bell ringers at participating businesses in the Salt Lake area currently and said anyone from supervised children to singing groups can volunteer their time.
Anyone interested in donating time or money to the Salvation Army may call 870-7011.