ringing the bell for Salvation Army

I too say God bless you and thank you for your time and effort. I had to stop by a (enter name of large dept store here) Thursday to get an umbrella and a poncho.(as you can guess it was raining very hard). There in the rain was a man ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. How can you NOT give?

I hope you raise lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Just to clarify, Target's not boycotting the SA (at least specicfically). They simply have a no solicitation policy that applies to everyone...SA, Girl Scouts, etc.

Yeah...I don't know what's up with the 30 minute limit. I have about a million posts I'd like to edit if given a chance.... 

Jumping to a different Salvation Army topic, the guy in front of SAM's Club ringing the bell Saturday had his bagpipes with him. And for a few minutes, instead of ringing the bell, he blessed us with Silent Night. So awesome.

I understand the frustration, especially when there was somebody outside the grocery store before Thanksgiving. That's jumping the gun. But now I'll be more likely to smile instead of rushing by. Thanks, bettylou.

I appreciate the SA campaign during the holiday season, and I aways give to it, multiple times. On the flip side, I do agree with others here in that it gets hard to tolerate, and I do feel guilty when I don't give every time I go into the store. But that's my problem, and when I'm out and about at Christmastime, there are so many crankypants out there, I make it a point to be polite and spread holiday cheer. Sometimes tho, I'm so focused on what I'm doing and getting down the to-do list, I pay no attention to the (insert charity here), and I would hope that the person working for that charity doesn't take it personally.

I know these nonprofits have to get money to function and to give back into the community in order to fulfil their purpose, but there has to be a better way- especially with so many people being "cashless" now. I'm bombarded at every store, in my mail, on the phone and now even at stoplights to give to this campaign or that campaign. I feel like I am being manipulated by some of these organizations to guilt me into giving. So aside from SA, I don't give on the spot-it's personal policy. I seek out other ways to donate to the organizations I wish to support so I don't have to wait for them to knock on my car window.