Local Salvation Army volunteers seek to dispel misinformation

HALEYVILLE - It’s a sign of the Christmas season - the iconic red kettle with a smiling person ringing a red bell standing beside it, taking donations for the less fortunate.  Now, this 140+ year old organization is under fire from some locally.
The Salvation Army, established in America in 1880, is most visible every Christmas season, when volunteers across the nation collect money during the non-profit’s red kettle campaign.  Valeria Taylor has volunteered for the Salvation Army for years and is a fixture of the Christmas season locally, ringing the bell in front of Walmart in Haleyville.  This year, she has had some local residents come up to her and nicely tell her they will not be donating to the Salvation Army this year.  When she asks why, she is told it is because of the Salvation Army’s embracement of critical race theory.
Critical race theory, as defined by the “Merriam-Webster Dictionary”, is, “a group of concepts (such as the idea that race is a sociological rather than biological designation, and that racism pervades society and is fostered and perpetuated by the legal system) used for examining the relationship between race and the laws and legal institutions of a country and especially the United States.”  CRT, as it is called, has become a hot-button issue for people on both the far right and the far left of the political/social spectrum, for different reasons.
Earlier this year, the Salvation Army released an internal pamphlet entitled “Let’s Talk About Racism”, which was misconstrued by some as stating that white people should apologize for the color of their skin.   As with many things, once these legitimate concerns reached social media, they have been misconstrued, taken out of context and appropriated to use for other agendas, leading to a firestorm of controversy.
Taylor was shocked when she was first approached by someone who respectfully told her that he could not donate to the Salvation Army this year.  Since then, four more people have told her the same thing.
“We had a local man tell us the Salvation Army needs to apologize.  I told him there is nothing to apologize for.  They follow God’s Word,”  Taylor said.
Taylor, who performed social work for a number of years before retiring, has been involved with the Salvation Army for decades, utilizing their services to help provide food, shelter, gas money and other needful items for her clients.
“It was a blessing to have resources to help people.  We were able to do a lot.  Salvation Army did not take one dime of the money.  They just wanted to help us develop it as a resource under their name,”  Taylor said.
Taylor is proud to continue to work as a volunteer with the Salvation Army.
“I have been involved with Salvation Army for years and I trust them.  They help people. They are not promoting themselves.  They don’t stand up and take credit for the good work they do.  I don’t want this bad mark in social media to go against them,”  Taylor said.