Claim: Wal-Mart resold toys left with it to be donated to needy kids.
Status: True.
Origins: In November 2002, the Wal-Mart in Sterling, Colorado, was approached by a representative of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce's Toys For Tots program with a request to
place a toy donation box at that location. The box was set up, and the Chamber's representative thrilled to watching the toys pile up. When she went to retrieve the toys in early December, however, she found the box empty.
Someone from the store had returned all the donated items to the shelves.
As most mix-ups do, this one came about mostly through miscommunication (albeit some misplaced zeal played a part too). The store's manager recalls telling the drive's representative all donated items had to be wrapped in
Why the management of this particular drop-box went so badly awry is a mystery. One would have thought the potential for a public relations black eye would have slowed
purpose of lighting up the eyes of poverty-stricken waifs is about as sure-fire a recipe for loss of good opinion as it gets.
Before anyone concludes Wal-Mart is the Grinch of all the ages, it should be pointed out that retailer is a regular benefactor to Sterling area clubs and organizations, donating more than $50,000 annually.
On the national scale, in 2001, Wal-Mart contributed over
The "Toys for Tots" program has been a part of America's charitable landscape since the late 1940s. Through it, more than
Barbara "earning millions of smiles" Mikkelson
Last updated: 30 July 2007
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