A veteran Marine and his wife are disappointed after they were asked to take their Toys for Tots campaign outside their local Walmart.
John Harkness is a loyal US Marine and has been retired for more than 20 years. Although he may be getting older, his heart is as strong as ever. And he is using that big heart to make sure children get the toys they need for Christmas.
However, Walmart management asked the John stand outside in the freezing cold in Medina, Ohio over the weekend. With temperatures well below freezing, this is literally a health risk for John at his age. But he still kept his spirits high, not complaining one bit.
A woman noticed the senior citizen out the in the freezing cold, and asked if she could take his picture. John obliged, and the rest is history. Once the picture made it online it immediately went viral and has since sparked several complaints on our website.
Thousands of people have shared the picture of John Harkness standing outside of the Medina Walmart. The picture was taken by a Medina resident on Saturday, when the weather "was brutal", according Walmart shoppers who live in the area.
Much of the feedback received is that it was disrespectful for the Marine to have to stand outside.
Lynn Harkness is the Toys for Tots Coordinator in Medina County. Standing in the toy warehouse Sunday, she explained that this incident was not only an issue of disrespect, but health is a factor for the volunteers.
"We have the Auxiliary and the Marines helping they are in their 60s most of them and on up. A couple of the Marines have had cancer surgery and their health isn't the best, being out in the bad weather could damage their health,” she said.
Walmart corporate offices responded regarding the situation and their policy:
If a Marine or anyone was treated with disrespect, that is unacceptable and we are looking into this matter further to get the facts. Walmart’s corporate policy across our more than 4500 stores does not allow this type of solicitation inside our stores and we apologize for any confusion about this policy.Let's all make sure we let Walmart know what we think about their "corporate policy". Leave a message on their Facebook page or mention them on Twitter!
