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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml

This weekend, I donated about $1000 worth of old clothes to the NYC Housing Works. I purposefully avoided the Salvation Army because of their policy regarding gays. Over the last decade, the organization has used their existing shelters and soup kitchens to leverage their policies, threatening to shut them down if any pro-gay laws are passed (marriage, benefits, visitation). If anyone else out there is cleaning up their house/apartment and has a boatload of things to donate, avoid the Salvation Army!

Thanks.

EDIT: A lot of you are misunderstanding this post. The Salvation Army is outspoken AGAINST civil rights. They require recipients of their services to recite a prayer. They have a horribly low operating efficiency. Yes, I know that the Salvation Army does a lot of good, but it does so as a matter of pure volume because it is so large. If it were smaller, as a result of less funding (your donations) then another charity would definitely step in and take its place.

My goal with this post is to inspire you to find a secular charity in your area to donate to instead of the Salvation Army. You'll be helping to shift the power and supporting a cause that does not come with any strings attached. You'll also be more effectively helping less fortunate people. As mentioned, the SA has a low operational efficiency, which means that if you were to donate the same amount to another charity, MORE of your donation will go directly to helping people in need instead of supporting infrastructure.

Also, if you support the Salvation Army in their anti-gay policy, you can go fuck yourself.

For the record, I am not gay, I am just very adamant about civil rights.