Contact Meijer to Say Thank You for Standing Up for Sportsmen
Sportsmen Encouraged to Thank Meijer for Ending Promotion
May 1, 2008
(Columbus, Ohio) -The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) is encouraging sportsmen to thank Meijer, Inc. for ending its promotion with the nation's largest anti-hunting organization.
The leadership at Meijer, a Michigan-based regional chain of retail superstores, has responded to the concerns of the sportsman community and ended its partnership with the anti-hunting group, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in an online pet photo contest.
Meijer is to be congratulated for quickly severing its ties to HSUS once it began hearing from sportsmen. To thank the company, please send letters to CEO and Chairman Hank Meijer at 2929 Walker Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49544-9428. The USSA is asking that sportsmen send only mail at this time so as not to overload the company's phone, fax and email systems.
The now-ended promotion called for the company to donate $1 for each person that entered the contest, up to a maximum of $5,000, to the HSUS Foreclosure Pets Fund.
Thanks to swift action by sportsmen, Meijer eliminated the portion of the contest that included a donation to HSUS.
"Our program was an outgrowth of our history of supporting local humane societies. We were not aware of the concerns that exist among hunters about HSUS. As you know, we have strongly supported the hunting community over many decades," said Meijer vice president of corporate communications and public affairs, Stacie Behler. "We have discontinued our donation program as a result of the feedback. No new funds will be collected. The funds that were collected will be used exclusively for their Foreclosure Pets Fund, which is a grants program for animal shelters, non-sheltered rescue/adoption groups and animal care and control agencies to establish, expand, or publicize services or programs that assist families caring for their pets during the current economic crisis."
The money donated to HSUS through this promotion, while not going directly to its anti-hunting campaign, would have freed up dollars from the organization's general fund that could have been used to continue the attack on the rights of sportsmen.
The USSA is pleased that Meijer thinks so much of its hunting, trapping and fishing customer base and hopes that sportsmen in Meijer's service area will continue to patronize the company's stores.
The HSUS is America's leading opponent of hunting, fishing and trapping. It led the charge in a 2006 ballot campaign to ban dove hunting in Meijer's home state of Michigan, contributing $1.6 million to the effort. It opposes hunting on National Wildlife Refuges and other public lands. HSUS does not operate or oversee animal shelters or have any legal controls over them.
Meijer is a seller of sporting goods and hunting and fishing licenses and indicates on its website that it operates 182 locations throughout Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen's organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website,
www.ussportsmen.org.