The limited amount that I am able to give goes to only two place - my local parish church (because of my trust in the wise stewardship of my pastor) and the Salvation Army. In both cases, I know that they know what to do with the money in the furtherance of The Lord's work.
Wal-Mart vs. Target? First, I'm a divorced single guy who hates to shop ANYWHERE, but I especially hate 40 acre stores since, when I do go to a store, I go there to get things I need - not to get exercise. And, yes, that does also mean that Lowe's and Home Depot are not on my list of favorites either.
Wal-Mart, however, has made a brilliant tactical move in their promise of dollar-for-dollar matching of whatever funds the Salvation Army collects in front of their stores. They could further their PR advantage immeasurably if, at the close of the Christmas season, they ask the S.A. how far short they came of their goal because of Target and, very publicly, made up the difference. The value of that kind of move would far exceed all the ads in the Sunday newspaper supplements across the country for a month.
Heh heh heh, that's funny about the big stores. I don't blame you. I enjoy some of them.
Your other comments are right on target for me. I'm not a big fan of WalMart. I won't get into that here. I do think it would be very wise for them to follow your lead here.