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After 130 years of raising money at Christmas time, the Salvation Army is now telling members to quit rattling their collection tins.It may offend other religions.The Daily Mail reported: For 130 years they have been part of Christmas, filling the air in towns across the land with music and carols. But one thing is missing from the repertoire of Salvation Army bands this year - the percussion of rattling tins. Members have been forbidden to shake their charity tins - even if it's done in time to the music - in case it harasses or intimidates people. One said she...

Beginning the first week of December, Salvation Army bell ringers will set up red kettles on street corners and in malls across the country, hoping to collect more than $100 million in coins and small bills. It's an old-school way of raising money and the Army knows it, so this year, the charity is supplementing its famous Red Kettle Campaign with a Twitter feed, a Facebook widget, and a cell phone text message donation program in addition to its recently introduced online kettle program. The Army, short on volunteer bell ringers, even pays some people to coax passersby into donating...

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) - A Maryland mall says Salvation Army bell ringers are making too much noise, and that's striking a sour note with merchants. The mall is asking the charity to replace the insides of bells with paper clips to keep the clanging down. Maj. Robert Lyle says the three indoor ringers at Valley Mall have replaced the clappers inside their bells. Lyle says he sympathizes with merchants who get tired of the noise. But he says the two bell-ringers located outside the mall are still at full volume. Salvation Army volunteers ring the bells to call attention to...

John McCain today reiterated a promise that his running mate's wardrobe -- purchased for her by the Republican National Committee -- will end up going to a good cause once the election is over. So here's good news. Calls to thrift stores across Palin's home state of Alaska have turned up a taker: The Salvation Army. "We would be delighted to be the beneficiary of the clothes from Gov. Palin," said Jenni Ragland, public relations director for the Salvation Army's office in Anchorage. "We would most likely use it in one of our fundraisers here in Alaska to help support...

<p>I am saddened to read that Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays, or P-FLAG, is discriminating against the Salvation Army in such an extreme manner ("P-FLAG targets Salvation Army," Dec. 10).</p> <p>Evidently, P-FLAG has decided to harass the Salvation Army and cause monetary damage to its good cause because P-FLAG members have opposing beliefs. That P-FLAG would go to the extent of printing fake money to put in Salvation Army kettles demonstrates P-FLAG's intolerance for anyone who holds a different point of view. Where's the tolerance here? I urge P-FLAG to show compassion to everyone, including those who do not agree with P-FLAG's doctrine.</p>

A former Salvation Army pastor remains in the Volusia County Jail, facing charges of lewd or lascivious molestation on a 13-year-old girl. John Chastain, 41, was the Captain Officer of the Salvation Army Church in DeLand from 1999 to 2005, and as such was the church's pastor. He's accused of luring a teenager to perform sexual acts from the time she was 13 years old until she turned 16. Chastain left the church and Volusia County Sheriff's investigators caught up with him last week in Georgia. News 13 spoke with the sister of the victim, who said Chastain was the...

DES MOINES, Iowa - The American Red Cross said on Monday that its Disaster Relief Fund is wiped out and it's being forced to borrow money to help flood victims throughout the Midwest. Jeff Towers, the organization's chief development officer, said the balance for domestic disaster relief efforts is zero. He said the American Red Cross would borrow to keep workers and volunteers in the field helping flood victims. "The Red Cross remains committed to providing the scale of services that people expect of the Red Cross when disaster strikes, and the way that we are doing that right now...

An Army veteran who remembered getting free coffee and doughnuts from the Salvation Army decades ago gave a $10,000 check to a dumbfounded bell-ringer. "The $10,000 is to help pay for my coffee and donuts," he said in a handwritten note signed, "P.F.C." "Seems fair to me after 40+ years, with inflation and everything." The man gave the check to a volunteer outside a department store at the Exton Mall on Friday, said Capt. Gerald Morgan, a spokesman for the Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia. The man remembered being given coffee and doughnuts while serving in World War II and...

Just wanted to remind the good people of this forum that throughout all the nastiness of politics; the ugliness of some of our own humanity; the cynicism we read about, talk about, and fall under its influence... This time of the year is a time to thank those who unselfishly give to our Troops, as well as, many many others. Operation GratitudeSalvation Army MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores will feature their first-ever Christmas Carol Concert Friday morning, in partnership with The Salvation Army. Thu, Dec. 06, 2007 Posted: 14:26:58 PM EST Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores will feature their first-ever Christmas Carol Concert Friday morning, in partnership with The Salvation Army. The concert will be aired across the country at 9:30 a.m. in all stores and locations of the giant retailer to get shoppers into the spirit of giving this season. A special Christmas message will be given by Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life. "The holiday season is a...

Giving the Gift of English By Ken Blackwell Thursday, December 6, 2007 One of the most unreported stories of the past month is Democrats in Congress refusing to protect the Salvation Army and other similar organizations from lawsuits for requiring their employees to be able to speak English on the job. This policy issue is also important politically, and Republicans will benefit politically by doing the right thing. John Fund’s recent Wall Street Journal article reveals this absurd situation. Lawsuits have been brought by individuals and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against employers like the Salvation Army for requiring their...

Kettle cash tempting to thieves http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/329594.html http://tinyurl.com/ypos7x Posted on Mon, Dec. 03, 2007 BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ Yes, Virginia, there are grinches out there. And they steal from the Salvation Army's red kettles. One bell ringer told police she was robbed in Lighthouse Point last month when she left her kettle for a few minutes to use the bathroom. ''That is the last thing the world needs right now,'' said Capt. Tom Louden, area commander for the Salvation Army in Broward. Such thefts are a perennial problem around the country for the Salvation Army. About 20,000 red kettles appear at storefronts...

On the heels of last season’s record-setting Red Kettle Campaign – in which $30 million was raised for The Salvation Army in red kettles outside Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations – the nation’s largest retailer announces today its continued support for the nonprofit organization this holiday season. This year, in addition to inviting red kettles back in front of its stores, Wal-Mart is hosting a flurry of other holiday activities aimed at raising even more money for those in need. These include: •    Bells Ringing Across America – For the second year, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club associates are participating in...

Nancy Pelosi tries to force the Salvation Army to hire people who can't speak English It's been less than a week since New York's Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Eliot Spitzer had to climb down from their support of driver's licenses for illegal aliens. Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has moved to kill an amendment that would protect employers from federal lawsuits for requiring their workers to speak English. Among the employers targeted by such lawsuits: the Salvation Army. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a moderate Republican from Tennessee, is dumbstruck that legislation he views as simple common sense would be blocked....

It's been less than a week since New York's Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Eliot Spitzer had to climb down from their support of driver's licenses for illegal aliens. Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has moved to kill an amendment that would protect employers from federal lawsuits for requiring their workers to speak English. Among the employers targeted by such lawsuits: the Salvation Army. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a moderate Republican from Tennessee, is dumbstruck that legislation he views as simple common sense would be blocked. He noted that the full Senate passed his amendment to shield the Salvation Army by...

A government suit against the Salvation Army has the House and Senate at loggerheads over whether to nullify a law that prohibits employers from firing people who don't speak English on the job. The fight illustrates the explosiveness of immigration as an issue in the 2008 elections. Republicans on Capitol Hill are pushing hard to protect employers who require their workers to speak English, but Democratic leaders have blocked the move despite narrow vote tallies in the GOP's favor. For more than 30 years, federal rules have generally barred employers from establishing English-only requirements for their workers. But Senate Republicans...

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (BosNewsLife)-- The Netherlands' most famous soldier of the Salvation Army died Monday, June 25, just as the non-military evangelical organization tried to overcome another, financial, crisis by breaking off ties with Internet and computer giant Microsoft. 'Major Bosshardt' passed away "peacefully" in her home in Amsterdam at the age of 94, the Salvation Army said. Alida Margaretha Bosshardt became a Christian at age 18 during an open air meeting of the Salvation Army and soon became involved in social projects. During World War Two, when the Salvation Army was banned, she continued her work underground, saving the lives...

A complaint filed at the end of March in the United States District Court District of Massachusetts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says two Hispanic workers, one's national original is the Dominican Republic, and the other's is El Salvador) were subjected to discrimination by the Salvation Army "on the basis of their national origin (Hispanic) by requiring them to comply with Defendant's English-only rule.

"The Salvation Army operates thrift stores across the United States. In keeping with its mission to help the less fortunate, these stores both cater to lower income customers and often employ people who might have difficulty finding work elsewhere. The Salvation Army has a policy that requires its employees to speak English on the job. In a 2003 opinion, a federal judge in Boston approved of the policy as a legitimate business practice. The next year, a Salvation Army store in Framingham, Mass., did what I think most of us would agree was the right thing to do: It gave...

The EEOC has filed a...complaint accusing the Salvation Army of discrimination on the basis of national origin. At issue is a Salvation Army policy that requires its workers to speak English in the workplace. TOM TANCREDO (R): This is America. We speak English. It's better for the people who are here to learn English and actually have the ability to get ahead in life. That's what we should be encouraging. SYLVESTER: In 2003, a federal judge upheld the Salvation Army's English-only policy, ruling that it served a legitimate business purpose, promoting effective communication and helping improve productivity and efficiency. But...