REVIEW POSTED ON SALVATION ARMY JOPLIN MISSOURI FACEBOOK PAGE
UPDATE: The Salvation Army's long term approach (hoarding donations) has taken almost four years before any appreciable amount of the 5.5 million donated was released for Joplin recovery. Many people who suffered could have been helped. They have recently posted pictures on their website of houses being built by Habitat for Humanity an organization that the Salvation Army announced a recovery grant of $800,000 from the 5.5 million donated to the Salvation Army in 2011. They should be ashamed it is 2015. That’s what needed to be done in 2011. Below are reports dated 2014. It was also reported that $455,000 went for expenses, including salaries, medical insurance for employees, uniforms, etc., etc..
Reported Sept 2014 KSDK News: “At a news conference in Joplin, the Salvation Army announced recovery grants of more than $2.5 million. $800,000 of which goes to Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes. It was a day that some anticipated, even expected sooner.
Reported April 2014 by KSDK News with regard to the Salvation Army: "Local food banks. Local community foundations. Local human services organizations that have been there for a long time are best equipped to help their neighbors, much better than organizations that have boards of directors thousands of miles away."
The Salvation Army does very little for the City of Joplin. The Salvation Army collected approximately 5.5 million dollars after the tornado. They kept 4.2 million for almost four years. Only approximately 1 million was spent on recovery immediately after the tornado. With some of that money they recently built a new deluxe Thrift Store. The proceeds from that store do not go to help people in Joplin, it goes to enrich the Salvation Army. There are over 57,000 people living in Joplin. At Christmas the Salvation Army gives out only 700 baskets. The money for those baskets comes from the people of the City of Joplin. Those people who drop money in the bell ringers buckets and the person who donates several thousand dollars each Christmas to the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army also keeps part of those donations. Virtually all of the food for the soup kitchen is donated. The woman's shelter is so small they turn away more women and children then they help. It's unfortunate that people do not look beyond the obvious and truly know what kind of organization the Salvation Army is. According to Forbes the Salvation Army's top executive, William Roberts, received an annual salary of $249,833. THAT'S $125 AN HOUR!!! (based upon a 40-hour work week) for the fiscal year 2012. It is probably closer to $300,000 for 2015. I wonder how many Santa Claus buckets need to be filled to pay Mr. Robert's extravagant salary? There are all kinds of excuses to justify such outrageous salaries; but no one needs that kind of salary, and it is certainly inappropriate of a so-called “charitable organization.” I realize that top executives are often paid high salaries for their fund-raising abilities and expertise; yet, it's just inconsistent with all the plethora of ads we see begging for our donations, which might mean “life or death to some child.” If that's the case, just think how many more children's lives could be saved if the CEO of the charity were to give back 90% of their salary. God forbid that a charity CEO might actually have to live on $75,000 a year! My, oh my, how would they survive? Even at $75,000 a year, that's DOUBLE what the average hard-working American worker earns in one year.
Get out there bell ringers, you have a lot of donations to collect to keep this so-called charitable(?) organization solvent. There are a lot of exorbitant salaries that need to be paid.
Review from Guidestar