No SSNs Required by Salvation Army

DosCentavos greets with a smile the good news coming from the Salvatation Army:  No Social Security Numbers required for kids to qualify for donated toy.

“It was never our intention to offend anyone with our registration requirement to provide a Social Security number, or to give the impression that we were discriminating against those individuals and families who do not have a Social Security number,” Major Chris Flanagan, Area Commander for The Salvation Army Greater Houston Area Command said in a statement.

Along with the SNN requirement was the reason behind it:  Fraud.  My question still is if there had actually been fraud.  And if there was fraud, did they have stats on said fraud and if they knew the fraud came from immigrants.

DosCentavos has no problem tracking who is getting the toys; if anything, some sort of identifier is needed to get a kid’s name, an address to deliver (because some groups do that in “Santa” style, etc.  So, I did not understand how a Social Security number would provide such a deterrent to fraud.

Anyway, that has been cleared up and Christmas can continue.  Bottom line:  There will be thousands of kids who will be without, and not just a toy.  During the holiday, it is a good idea to donate a little to many groups because it is amazing how they can stretch that dollar.

A good example is Houston Area Food Bank–$1 provides a full day of meals for a child, an adult, or a senior.  On top of a toy, kids and families also need nutrition, so give a few bucks to them here.

UPDATE:  State Rep. Alvarado Meets With Salvation Army

State Rep. Carol Alvarado met with the folks at Salvation Army.  Unfortunately for SA, this story went national and was covered on CNN this afternoon.   Alvarado released this statement:

State Representative Carol Alvarado was pleased with the outcome of her meeting with Salvation Army’s Greater Houston Area Commander, Major Chris Flanagan and Director of Development Caesar Grantham.  Major Flanagan stated that the Salvation Army is in no way using immigration status as a determining factor in deciding which children are to be given presents.  He also stated that the Salvation Army does not have the ability to check immigration status.  Representative Alvarado was concerned that asking for social security cards might deter some needy families from receiving assistance.  The Salvation Army has agreed not ask for social security cards next year during the application process leading up to the holiday season.

“Asking families for social security cards may prevent some needy children from receiving gifts,” said Representative Alvarado.  “The holidays are about giving, and we want everyone to feel safe when applying for much needed aid and assistance in their time of need especially during the holiday season.”

Representative Alvarado will help the Salvation Army revise their application for next year in hopes that all children in need of assistance obtain gifts given out by the Salvation Army’s program.

This entire story is unfortunate, but when a nonprofit mentions something like asking for an SSN for a toy, the media will take it and run with it.  Not only will it anger one group of people, but it will cause even more division and give anti-immigrant groups a chance to jump in and do their worse (just read some of the ugly comments in the Chron).