Thieves In The Salvation Army

It’s a shocking thought to think there might be thieves in the Salvation Army, a Christian charity. What happens to your hard earned money you donate to this organization? Supposedly, it goes to help the needy. But does it?

For the most part, The Salvation Army is a fine organization which provides loving care to less fortunate’s around the world. This article is not intended to give a black eye to the majority of honest Salvation Army members striving to provide essential services to the disadvantaged. Its’ purpose is to alert the powers that be and public at large, that certain improprieties may exist in certain places. And by all means, they’re not the only charitable establishments which have problems with dishonest employees. You’ve seen reports of this nature in national media. I’ve worked in other Christian nonprofit organizations in a managerial capacity and observed similar offenses.

I am a witness to some of the following incidents and others have been told to me by reliable sources. And I realize the allegations to be made here are hearsay. Many allegations come under this heading, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t some truth to them.

Although I’m not an employee of the Salvation Army, I do work in one of their social services office through a senior citizen employment program. I’ve been there about two years. The exact location, I prefer not to disclose, but perhaps an alert, responsible member of the Salvation Army may take notice and instigate appropriate action. The chapter in question is in South Carolina and not in the southern districts or along the coast line.

There are several honest employees at this facility who have also witnessed outright theft and are sick and tired of it. So, why hasn’t anyone stepped forward and reported it? They have, at the local level and also higher up the chain of command. The higher level management in Atlanta did acknowledge the reports and sent a memo to the commanding officer in charge of the facility in question. That’s where it stopped. Why, could that be where the problem is? You be the judge.

Certain employees have verbally reported these acts to the commanding officer. One was told she was “overstepping her boundaries’” and another “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Nepotism runs rampant through the social services and human resources departments, which may be a violation of hiring practices. Notwithstanding that possibility, close family relatives are the only ones being hired in these departments regardless of numerous applications submitted by persons unquestionably as well qualified, if not more so, than the ones hired. Out of at least 100 applications received for the last social services manager position, only three were interviewed…one being a relative who was hired. The outgoing social services manager retired after many years with the Salvation Army. Her granddaughter presently holds the human resources manager position. The previous human resources manager also had the same last name as the retiree. It has become a monarchy.

Favoritism is shown in dispensing some services such as emergency food assistance. Prepared boxes of food items are made in advance. Different sizes are prepared according to the number of persons in a household. But, not for their relatives, who basically come in and pack their own, taking whatever they desire. This I have personally witnessed. Others have seen them backing their car up to the food pantry after hours and loading it with boxes of food. It has become their private grocery store.

Annually, anonymous individuals donate grocery gift cards around Christmas time for senior citizens. It was related to me by several honest employees only a few of them reached their intended destination. The phrase “They don’t need that many.” was overheard.

What about productivity? These managers sometimes leave early, usually when the officers aren’t there. Recently, on a Friday, they both left about 20 minutes early from work. About three minutes afterwards a client needing rent assistance phoned in. They had completed the required actions needed for the Salvation Army to make their pledge to the landlord. The social services manager knew this individual didn’t finish work until 4 pm, according to the client. It’s not known at this time whether the client was evicted. It’s obvious, these two employees care little about the people they’re hired to serve. I’m sure I could add to this list, but these transgressions should be sufficient.

As referenced before, this article is not intended to get anybody fired or reprimanded. It’s written without malice or intent of personal gain, hopefully, so someone might investigate the situation.

Your hard earned money, especially in this economy, shouldn’t be squandered on unscrupulous people having jobs that can support themselves and not take from the poor.

Hearsay? Maybe, but don’t you think the possibility might bear some scrutiny?