Red Kettles And Racism: Where Do Your Salvation Army Donations Really Go?

With locations in every zip code, the Salvation Army helps millions of Americans escape poverty every year by providing a host of services such as financial assistance, counseling, job training, and disaster relief.

For decades, the Salvation Army has used the generous donations of Americans to better society by providing these services to people in need in the U.S. and abroad. In fact, according to Kenny Xu, president of Color Us United, 80% of the Salvation Army’s worldwide donations come from Americans. But in recent years, the Salvation Army has shifted its focus and its priorities.

Through anti-racist training programs pushed by newly hired diversity officers, the Salvation Army, on the national level, is prioritizing telling salvationists that they are racist. The Salvation Army’s new woke direction raises a question for the every-day Americans who have supported the charity with their dollars in the past: should you still give to the Salvation Army?

On the one hand, it is undeniable that the Salvation Army still does good in the U.S. and around the world. Because the Salvation Army has so many locations in so many communities, it can accomplish a lot of good on a local level by responding to the specific needs of each unique community. Just last year, the Salvation Army provided shelter to over 7 million homeless individuals and over 171 million meals to the hungry.

When weighing whether to give to the Salvation Army, you may see the impact your local Salvation Army chapter is making and conclude that withdrawing your support would be selfish and uncalled-for. Local Salvation Army chapters rely on support from donors to keep doing their good works, after all. But that’s not the whole story.

10% of all the proceeds from donations to local chapters go to the national headquarters. As Kenny pointed out in my interview with the Tennessee Star, the national headquarters puts the money toward conducting large-scale fundraising and lobbying campaigns and “crafting and controlling the message.” And the national messages they put out, pushed by their influential International Social Justice Commission, have told good-hearted Americans they are racist.

The national branch also oversees the antiracist training programs that teach the principles of Critical Race Theory to Salvation Army officers. One of the new DEI directors for the Salvation Army’s western US territory bragged of the College of Officer Training in California that, “Our officers will have DEI wired into their DNA as they go into the territory to serve,” because every course syllabus in the curriculum is required to have a DEI component before it gets approved.

In other words, when you donate to your local Salvation Army chapter, 10% of your money unfortunately funds the divisive ideology that is destroying our country. 

When you donate to the Salvation Army, you are unwittingly contributing to the messages of division and despair that are disincentivizing Americans from giving. 10% of your dollars empower the national branch to expand its DEI reach.

We have seen how rapidly its DEI programs, officers, and ideology have grown in power and influence. There is nothing to suggest these people will stop until they have influenced every corner of the organization. Not unless you tell them enough is enough.

As a donor, you have a right to take your money elsewhere. You are not an evil person if you weigh the facts and decide that donating to a good cause is not worth the cost of helping to fund the promotion of poisonous ideology.

You have every right to withdraw your support from the Salvation Army and give it to another organization that better aligns your values. Moreover, with your dollars, you have the power to convince the Salvation Army that they need to change.

If enough Americans pull their support from Christian charities that are bending to wokeness and explain (to their local Salvation Army captain) why they have done so, this could lead to a time of healing for Christian charities.

If enough Americans make their voices heard, we very well may see the Salvation Army and other Christian charities abandon wokeness and return to their core mission of showing Christ’s love to all, regardless of race.

Emmie Lo is a Latin teacher and a writer for Color Us United, which advocates for a race-blind America.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.