National Remember Our Troops Campaign

Would give 0 stars if possible. Now mind you, this is in reference to their employees that actually sit at a table outside of stores asking for donations; this isnt directed toward the owner.



It's Sunday, June 7, 2015. My best friend, my two young children and I all went shopping to the Shoppers Grocery store off of Solomons Island Road in Annapolis, MD. This experience is literally the entire reason I never donate to non-profits or foundations that I'm not familiar with.



There was an older, very heavy-set woman with reddish hair. Sitting next to her was a VERY young man that appeared to be and gave off the vibe of a criminal. I believe he has tattoos. He looked extremely rough, unhealthy skinny, and acted/appeared to be on some type of stimulant drug. Not a legal kind either. I believe I heard her call him "Mike".



My friend, children and I approached them. The man had a very nasty attitude, but I was very kind and polite and tried to approach the woman. She introduced herself and described the non-profit, gave me false statistics and numbers, showed me her credentials & then proceed to tell me the man was a homeless veteran that the current money in their donation box was going to help him to get a roof over his head for the night. As far as I knew, that's not how non-profits worked. I don't believe the person is supposed to reach directly into the box and hand actual cash donations to this "man" who was sitting with her. Yes! For him to go help himself to cigarettes and food. I dont think that's how this things is supposed to work NROTC people!



The woman also told me that over 90% of donations go to veterans, when doing research I found out that its more like 15%. And the woman tried getting me to give a large donation, "as much as i can give, the more the better", so it could directly help the man. Absolute insanity. The man claimed to be a veteran of 6 years, but couldn't give me any details or information on the supposed service he did. Im more than thankful for what our vets do, but to act and pretend to be a veteran for personal gain, which is against the law! NO WAY! Thats where I draw the line.



Even while shopping after I decided not to donate, because every other minute that I tried carrying on a conversation with the woman, the man who swore he was an employee and veteran, would very nastily cut the woman off and yell "Stop talking! Stop getting distracted! Pay attention! Move on!". So rude! He was extremely nasty to me and wouldn't even acknowledge me when I tried speaking to him.



Whomever the owner is, I would do some serious soul searching and employee searching - because this charade, fraud you're carrying on is absolutely, insanely ridiculous. And I would keep an eye on employees that leave the donation box with men that dont even have credentials while she goes shopping, puts her hands directly in the box and removes money to put into the hands of this so called veteran.



I will take my donations to a real foundation, that properly and fairly distributes the donations, and actually helps real veterans. Not young men who seem to be hurting for a fix. Get professional!



Horrible experience!