Catholic Lay Charity Rejects Walmart Grant

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It started innocently enough, with Walmart announcing a new store bringing 300 jobs to a lower-income area of Tucson, along with donations to nine area charities, as typically happens when the retailing giant christens a new outlet.
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But when one of the non-profit groups rejected the company’s $1,000 donation, a surge of attention followed as news outlets across the country jumped on the story. That, in turn, raised questions about Walmart’s grant-making process and whether charities should ever turn away money.
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At the center of the controversy is Walmart’s role in communities. Despite the 300 jobs and the new store, which one Tucson councilman heralded as “a final key piece to the renaissance” of the city’s Ward 5 area, the opening has been met with mixed reviews – none more forceful than that given by Brian Flagg. He’s the coordinator of Casa Maria Free Kitchen and Casa Maria Catholic Worker Community and one of six employees who live and work at the complex for a stipend of $10 a week.
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He called Walmart’s donation “blood money,” in rejecting it. A Walmart spokeswoman called the rejection an “unfortunate misunderstanding” in a mostly routine process; the company contributes millions of dollars to non-profits each year.
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Casa Maria is a lay Catholic organization that pursues ideals of liberty, social justice and peace. It serves daily lunches to 500 individuals and 200 families, according to Flagg and the group’s online newsletter. It also supplies clothing and shelter, provides Christian burials to the indigent, visits prisoners in jail and more.
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The controversy came about somewhat accidentally, when Flagg read an Arizona Daily Star article quoting from a Walmart news release that announced the store’s grand opening and $15,000 worth of grants to be split among various non-profits, including his.
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Flagg said he called the newspaper to take issue with the story. When he did, a reporter sought more information and wrote an article about Casa Maria’s rejection of what had been reported as a $2,000 grant. The article included the “blood money” quote.
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The timing of the story coincided with criticism Walmart was getting over Black Friday shopping hours that required employees to work, for the first time, on Thanksgiving evening, although that issue wasn’t cited in the article.
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“They pay lousy wages, they’re anti-union and they’re detrimental to small businesses that operate in the area,” Flagg said of Walmart, in an interview with The Arizona Republic. “We’re activists … we practice daily the works of mercy and justice.”
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Read more: azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2012/11/29/20121129charity-declines-gift-from-walmart.html#ixzz2Dug36ODk
 
THis is great to hear. I wish more organizations would stand against Wal-Mart and more individuals would boycott them.
 
ringil said:
THis is great to hear. I wish more organizations would stand against Wal-Mart and more individuals would boycott them.
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Same. Like the article says:
“They pay lousy wages, they’re anti-union and they’re detrimental to small businesses that operate in the area,”
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Arizona_Mike said:
Read more: azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2012/11/29/20121129charity-declines-gift-from-walmart.html#ixzz2Dug36ODk
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Of course, a charity can turn down donations, particularly if the donations are tied to a cause that contradicts the meaning of the charity.

Catholic lay charities are NOT owned by the general public. The general public does NOT have a say in how they operate, what principles they espouse and whether they even exist.

If people in the general public think they can do it better, then they should get off their FAT LAZY BUTTS and do it themselves.
 
exoflare said:
It’s really too bad people are forcing them against their will to work at Walmart. 😦

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:...iVVHP8A8XBQNKDCVTAMCgjidkNogXVTyThBQ:rolleyes:
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Yeah, because everyone knows only losers work at Walmart, right? They don’t deserve to earn a living wage for their work. If they were better people they’d get better jobs, right?

You’d think people here would be happy that folks are trying to work instead of collecting welfare, but it’s still so much fun to look down at them.
 
Seeker1961 said:
Yeah, because everyone knows only losers work at Walmart, right? They don’t deserve to earn a living wage for their work. If they were better people they’d get better jobs, right?

You’d think people here would be happy that folks are trying to work instead of collecting welfare, but it’s still so much fun to look down at them.
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lol I didn’t even say anything remotely like that… it’s interesting how “only losers work at Walmart” was right at the tip of your tongue for some reason though. If you care to address what I actually said later on though, I’d still be happy to discuss.
 
exoflare said:
lol I didn’t even say anything remotely like that… it’s interesting how “only losers work at Walmart” was right at the tip of your tongue for some reason though. If you care to address what I actually said later on though, I’d still be happy to discuss.
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Here we go with all the unionize Walmart baloney. Give it a break, will you? There are MORE than plenty of threads on CAF for politics.

This thread is about the rights of a non-profit charity to decide whose donations they will accept.
 
exoflare said:
lol I didn’t even say anything remotely like that… it’s interesting how “only losers work at Walmart” was right at the tip of your tongue for some reason though. If you care to address what I actually said later on though, I’d still be happy to discuss.
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Your meaning was perfectly clear and a common one here.

I applaud the charity for sticking to their values and rejecting the money.
 
iloveangels said:
Here we go with all the unionize Walmart baloney. Give it a break, will you? There are MORE than plenty of threads on CAF for politics.

This thread is about the rights of a non-profit charity to decide whose donations they will accept.
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I think the unionizing comments are relevant though, considering this was in the article: “They pay lousy wages, they’re anti-union and they’re detrimental to small businesses that operate in the area,” Flagg said of Walmart. Flagg is “the coordinator of Casa Maria Free Kitchen and Casa Maria Catholic Worker Community”.
 
Swiss_Guy said:
I think the unionizing comments are relevant though, considering this was in the article: “They pay lousy wages, they’re anti-union and they’re detrimental to small businesses that operate in the area,” Flagg said of Walmart. Flagg is “the coordinator of Casa Maria Free Kitchen and Casa Maria Catholic Worker Community”.
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Politics shoves its way in and tries to take over again. Could we please knock off the politics? There are plenty of other threads about politics. THIS thread is about non-profit charities.
 
iloveangels said:
Politics shoves its way in and tries to take over again. Could we please knock off the politics? There are plenty of other threads about politics. THIS thread is about non-profit charities.
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And their decision to reject money from a morally questionable source.
 
Wal-Mart does NOT kill the small mom-and-pop businesses. The CUSTOMERS who abandon those businesses KILL them. If you wish to place blame, place it where it should be. Instead of whining about the “evil” Wal-Mart, they should put their money where their mouth is, and keep on supporting the small businesses. What a bunch of hypocrites!!!
 
Trurl said:
Wal-Mart does NOT kill the small mom-and-pop businesses. The CUSTOMERS who abandon those businesses KILL them. If you wish to place blame, place it where it should be. Instead of whining about the “evil” Wal-Mart, they should put their money where their mouth is, and keep on supporting the small businesses. What a bunch of hypocrites!!!
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Not all of us believe in complete unbridled capitalism.
 
Trurl said:
Wal-Mart does NOT kill the small mom-and-pop businesses. The CUSTOMERS who abandon those businesses KILL them. If you wish to place blame, place it where it should be. Instead of whining about the “evil” Wal-Mart, they should put their money where their mouth is, and keep on supporting the small businesses. What a bunch of hypocrites!!!
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There are no “mom and pop” businesses in my area selling the products that Walmart sells. I do buy my produce from the farmers market, but I can’t get my shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent and stuff like that from any small business. However, I do buy those types of things in Publix because they pay their workers a better wage, provide good benefits for them and close on holidays so they can spend at least a few days a year with their families. And I do pay a little more for everything so I can support the farmers markets and that particular store.

When I lived in NJ, I used to buy my meat from the Amish market, but there’s nothing like that down in my area.
 
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