Best Buy's lack of philanthropy irks some veterans

A local veterans group chief is expressing disappointment today with Best Buy’s community giving policy after learning the corporate giant excludes groups like his from their financial grant program.

“It doesn’t seem right," said the area veterans group commander who did not want to have him or his group identified for fear of controversy. “I mean most of the people that shop there are veterans or family of veterans.”

Best Buy, reached at its corporate headquarters by The Lebanon Voice, said they are focusing their financial giving on teens and technology, and while they don’t financially support veterans organizations, they do their part for the military.

In a prepared statement to The Lebanon Voice, Best Buy added, “Best Buy has a long history of supporting the community. As a technology company, we believe that we are uniquely positioned to help build the 21st century skills critical to the future of our youth, innovator skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. To improve the impact we can have in the community, we have evolved our strategic approach to philanthropy with a focus on teens and technology.

“In addition to our work with teens and technology, we are strong supporters of our veterans, military members and their families and honor this commitment through a variety of ways."

Best Buy spokesman Amy von Walter told The Lebanon Voice those initiatives included helping youth on military bases with understanding technology, having 50 of their field and corporate employees mentor 50 veterans on career planning and coordinating the sending of employee-created care packages with personal letters to service men and women deployed around the world.

Best Buy’s donation form specifies that its monetary focus is on teens and technology. Moreover, it states several groups need not apply for grants as they will not be accepted. Those excluded from applying for such monetary aid include lobbyists as well as religious, political, fraternal or veterans groups.

Some veterans The Lebanon Voice spoke to on Tuesday understood Best Buy’s reluctance to contribute to the above mentioned groups, with the exception of veterans.

“I understand the other groups,” another veteran said, “but I don’t understand excluding veterans.”

Best Buy came under heavy criticism two years ago when they contributed to a Muslim outreach group that was under heavy suspicion from the FBI as having connections with Hamas, a well-known and documented terror group.

The controversy began in April 2012 when Islamist-Watch.org ran the story that Best Buy was a “Platinum Sponsor” of CAIR’s annual Minnesota fund-raiser, according to frontpagemag.com. Best Buy later said it donated $1,450 over two years to the event.

CAIR was designated by the federal government as an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of the Holy Land Foundation for financing the Hamas terrorist group. The government listed CAIR as an entity of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, a secret body set up to politically support Hamas.

Walter said Best Buy had long since ceased such involvement with CAIR, and narrowed its contributory practices.

“That’s old news,” she said on Tuesday.

Last year Best Buy ended its support of CAIR’s Minnesota fund-raiser.

Still, given the big box store’s refusal to even contemplate donations to veterans groups – and to lump them with lobbyists and PACs – rankles some veterans who may think twice before shopping there again.

Best Buy maintains stores locally in Portland, Maine, and Newington, N.H.

Lastly, the veterans group head who originally brought this story to the attention of  The Lebanon Voice didn’t do so to start a ruckus, he said, only to let veterans groups know not to waste their time looking to them for any financial support.