
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 13, 1994                    TAG: 9406090022 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A6    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Short 
DATELINE: 940613                                 LENGTH:

DONATED GOODS STOLEN OVERNIGHT

{LEAD} I feel a tremendous sense of betrayal. My spouse and I deposited a van full of belongings with the Salvation Army Thrift Store on Virginia Beach Boulevard. We had spent all day cleaning out the shed, closets and attic and had decided to donate our unused articles, the accumulation of a lifetime, to this organization for its mission amongst the less fortunate. We left in their care computer parts, a computer, an IBM typewriter, furniture and other substantial ``junk.''

The next day, as my wife was delivering the software for one of the computer devices, she learned that several items had been stolen overnight. The delivery area is open 24 hours a day, and the employees do not bring in the collections before leaving. According to one employee, thefts are a common occurrence.

{REST} While these articles were by no means unlimited wealth, they were usable items for which we no longer had room or had replaced with newer items. They had represented the treasures of our lives which we had worked long and hard to purchase.

While I have lost the good feeling I had yesterday, the homeless and needy of Hampton Roads are the ultimate victims of this negligence by the Salvation Army. They have lost potential food, clothing and shelter, the only absolute treasures of life.

We, the residents of Hampton Roads, have trusted the Salvation Army to be faithful stewards of our gifts, and it has failed us.

W. LAWRENCE DANIELS

Norfolk, June 1, 1994

by CNB