reprise

And to the Salvation Army, I leave $1.5 billion

So the widow of McDonalds founder, Ray Kroc, has left $US 1.5 billion to the Salvation Army - by anyone's standards a significant injection of funds for a religious charity to receive.

I have no idea how influential the Salvos are in the US, and so I'm wondering whether a bequest of this magnitude will 1) expand whatever sphere of influence the Salvation Army already holds in the US and 2) make a significant difference to the lives of those who depend on the Salvation Army's welfare programmes.

From what I've read, the money is to be spent on building Salvation Army community centres. While this could be a good thing if it leads to the establishment of community centres in areas which currently have none, it could be a bad thing if the Salvation Army makes participation in its religious mission a prerequisite for accessing the social programmes delivered through those community centres.

So based on your knowledge of how the Salvos operate in the US, will this be a good thing for social justice programmes in general in the US, or will it just make a religious charity more powerful and influential?

disgracian

i'm not a big fan of the salvos here in australia. they were involved in some kind of fundraising for, i believe, east timor a while back and allegedly pocketed $1.5 million for "administrative costs".