Wal*Mart is fighting hunger. | Slog | The Stranger's Blog | The Stranger

That's nice of Wal-Mart to provide yet another benefit for their employees by keeping the food banks stocked.

you know what? FUCK THAT BULLSHIT. a local radio station that claims to have a vested interest in the community should not be jumping into bed with wal-mart.

someone at entercom must have forgotten that wal-mart refused to carry nirvana cds. and probably a whole load of other records by artists they include in their programming.

this is very disappointing news.

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How very kind. How caring. How real world you all are.

Cozy and well fed, I bet. Be mean and ugly about any attempt to feed money and food into the so wonderful food bank system

God - how stupid. The food banks keep little kid from belly hurts and rickets.

Wall Mart is not my store of choice. But then, I have a grocery outlet store, a pill place for my meds, and the Goodwill.

BY THE WAY- During Katrina -- Wall Mart rushed gigantic fleets of trucks with water into the region - all on their own. They also gave out free food at their stores and let people help themselves in stores that were damaged.

Shrill and stupid warm and cozies- You are being a bit too PC. They need to rais wages and provide some benefits, and if you don't like them -- go to the
Goodwill.

At one time in my life I had three junkie friends. I took them to food banks twice a week, or their health would have gone to zero. I love food banks, and they were invented in Seattle. Little know fact.

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They were?

When was this? I work for one and I didn't know that. Are you talking about the Great Depression here?

I totally agree, food banks rock, and the harder it gets to get food stamps the more rockin' they do. Wal-Mart may suck, but the list of things that suck is very, very long, and Wal-Mart's mostly at the top of it for stylistic reasons, not substantial ones. I love it when I see Wal-Mart-hatin' hipsters walking out of Target with big carts of stuff; Target's just as right-wing politically as Wal-Mart is. The only way to stay 100% pure is to bury yourself in a hole.

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I got the same message from KMTT (103.7) and sent them a message telling them I was disappointed they were associating themselves with Wal-Mart. I guess all Entercom stations in the area are sending out this message.

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No, my understanding is that the first efforts of foodbanking started in the one by the Pike Market, pre renovation in a big empty warehouse at the north end.

They had old bread, tons of onions, potatoes and bulk veggies, added salt, flour and other items as donated - and it blossomed from that early effort.

Early 1960's I believe.

Sme old hippy friend shared stories- carrying a moths supply of potatoes and onions andy anything else that was there - take it for the asking. They would have starved with out those basics.

At some ealy point food centers got Federal supplies and added powered milk and cheese and all the suff the Govt. was buying from farmers back then.

I just think whatever the fight is with Wall Mart or other business sites -- not cool to put food bank money and supplies in the political mix.

Bad manners, and bad strategy.

By the way - I spend 20.00 a week on what is a bargain at the discount store- real bargain and deliver it to the Union G Mission. They take anything and have grooved on yogurts, cheese, potatoes, and canned beans.

For dollars well used - 100 per cent- I can't think of a better charity.

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Way to go for stocking food banks. They kept me fed for awhile during what I now recognize were untreated bouts of mental illness.

And way to go wal-mart. Seriously, I'm a good liberal on most anything, but some people need to take some economics lessons. The gale of creative destruction strikes again!

So my problem is thus: will wal-mart use it as a tax write-off? I've heard of many companies using those 'donate your change to the march of dimes' kind of boxes at POS locations that seem like a good use of the quarters + lint in your pocket as charity donations, meaning they wind up effectively cheating the community out of tax income. I wouldn't be surprised if they're doing the same thing here -- anybody donated (or know anyone who has) and seen if you can take credit for the donation yourself? Or is it low-key and anonymous?

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They had foodbanks in the Great Depression. Soup kitchens and "commissaries" giving out groceries.

I'll ask at work (coworker is on the Seattle Food Committee) what the origins of the current food bank model is. Ours started in 1974, Cherry Street in about the same time. Yours is a decade earlier than that.

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Walmart will match the first $5 mil *across the NATION*?! How lovely of Walmart, the cheap fucking fuckers. I hate them so much.

Walmart's 2005 full year profits = over $10 billion. $5 mil is 0.05% of their last year's FULL YEAR PROFITS. That's like me giving $17.50 on my yearly gross (not even net) income of $35,000. I give far more than that, and I still feel like I could do more.

Yes. Money is money, and $10 mil to nation's food banks is $10 mil. But on the scale of Walmart's financial success, this is a joke. And the idea that Walmart is doing it out of goodness and concern for the community?! Fuck no. No fucking way in hell. At the best, this is pocket change and good pr. And you bet they get a write-off. And somehow, because our system works that way, somehow they will probably get to write off the entire $10 mil rather than the $5 mil they put in. (*This previous sentence has no basis is actual research and everything to do with my cold rage at the system.)

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Also, fnarf --- you're right. Target is no better RE: red/blue issues than Walmart.

You want to research a real blue alternative? They're disapearing fast, but they're still out there. It is up to every one of us to choose wisely where the fuck we spend our money:
http://www.buyblue.org/directory

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Weyerhouser logs old growth forests while talking about sustainability and funding environmental history series. Oil companies have toxic spills but promote their clean up policies. Alcohol companies promote overconsumption but oppose drunk driving. Cell phone companies celebrate their products' omnipresence by asking us to not interrupt movies with our phones. Wal-Mart donates money to food banks it could otherwise use to provide its employees with health benefits or a living wage. And the media gets behind a good (pr) cause. What else is new?

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its as good a loss leader as a $2.00 widget. WM gets good hearted libs to go into the store donate thier fiver and guess what? Theyre in the store, might as well pick up a few things. AND they get to write it off. Its cheaper than a coupon for WM.

That said, It is a good cause. Go there, donate, and leave immediately.

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Be thankful they’re doing anything at all, and just shut up.

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Methinks The End is part of a national netowkr of radio stations and that they thus had no say in whether or not they wanted to be a part of this.

Plus, it costs less to work with Wal-Mart, and yields more food for the charities, than the smaller but better intentioned stores and organizations.

They're right wing bastards who TAKE OUR JAERBS and import goods from overseas, but they're cheaper and can do more.

And can we grow past this angst ridden nonsense about The End being a local radio station? It's a gimmick that rock stations across the country use to bring in listeners: play some local music and pass yourself off as a station committed to the local community. They're a big money unit and their integrity only goes as far as their executives' bottom line will let them.

15

they aren't a "local" station. they're a branch of large corporation.
everyone knows this. they should be ignored and people should turn their backs so they'll go away or stop pretending.
I dont even see why anyone deals with them or feels anything they do is newsworthy.

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the end has done a tremdous job raising a lot of dough for the VERA project. they have also long supported local music with a variety of programming (although i'm not sure what the hell they were thinking when they axed their morning show).

obviously, they are part of a larger corporation. that's kind of a big no duh. my point was that, of the entercom stations, KNDD has done the most to align itself with the local community. marketing ploy? sure. but it has its benefits.

i suppose the same argument could be made for wal-mart. however, what offended me the most in the end's case was that it would not be difficult to mount the same effort and have it benefit a local organization. one from the community from which they earn their money.

on the list of all the corporate bastards out there, wal-mart is right up near the top.

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Kerri, you're missing one important point, which is that Entercom probably made the decision on high, and The End probably has no say in whether or not they get to work with local entities on this fundraiser. Entercom probably told them they would work with Wal-mart, and that was probably the end of the discussion.

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Wal-Mart will probably spend many times the $10 million advertising their altruism.

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Wal-Mart giving money to a food bank is like the Ayrian Nation giving money to B'nai Brith.

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