A Marine veteran was forced to stand outside in the cold and rain, while collecting money for Toys for Tots, in front of an Ohio Walmart store.
People across the nation who got wind of the story are now outraged that the vet couldn’t seek shelter inside — while temperatures dropped to the low 40’s in Medina over the weekend.
Someone snapped a photo of the vet and posted it on social media with the caption: “He can bleed and die but not stand inside.” The post went viral within hours.
A group of vets were collecting money for Toys for Tots and the local VFW when they asked to go inside.
But the store manager refused to let them in, according to WKYC. The manager told the local station it was against the company’s solicitation policy to allow the vets to be inside collecting donations for the children’s charity.
“Every business has their corporate policies, but every policy has an exception,” said John Harkness. “And I think veterans standing outside, there should be made exceptions for them,” he added.
“The wind was just blasting me and I was freezing like crazy. I was even fortunate, a young lady bought me a blanket which was nice,” said U.S. Navy vet Dan Macik.
“All we wanted was to come inside and get out of the wind and cold, and our papers were just flying,” said Macik. “The thing that bothered us is that we do so much for the community and it was basically her decision.”
Apparently, in years past the vets were allowed in the store. But the current manager said she was just following the rules.
Walmart issued a statement about the controversy which said in part: ..”support of our men and women in uniform both during active service and when they return home is a privilege that we strive to honor each day through our commitment to hiring hundreds of thousands of Veterans as well as the many charitable Veteran organizations we are proud to support.”
© 2015 Bright Mountain Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. The content of this webpage may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Bright Mountain Media, Inc. which may be contacted at media@brightmountainmedia.com
