Charitable donations at check out
Here's a cautionary tale for those who routinely pay at the checkstand with a debit or credit card at any number of our local retailers. On Saturday I did just that and was also intending to request $10 cash back on the transaction. After swiping my debit card, the usual prompts came up and I selected the $10 option and then continued through the process ... pin number, verifying amount due, etc.
As I completed the transaction I saw a message, "thank you for donating to the Susan G. Komen Foundation." I asked the cashier to look at my total on the register to see if there had been a donation made. Sure enough I had made a $10 donation, not the intended $10 cash back. The transaction was voided and we started over, this time without a donation.
According to the cashier this donation option has been on the checkout payment terminals for a few weeks. I told him to share with management that as a customer I did not appreciate being solicited for charitable donations during the process of electronically paying for my purchase. I don't mind being asked by a cashier if I'd like to make a contribution to X, Y or Z charities, as we all are at various times of the year. But to put that within the payment prompts is disingenuous. You're in the checkout line, hurrying through your day, distracted, and the charities fortunate enough to be featured on the payment card readers will be the big beneficiaries, even if the customer had no intention of making a donation. Customer service fail. Big time.
The incredibly talented Coeur d'Alene High School Chamber Choir performed the national anthem and America the Beautiful last Friday to open the Women in Red Luncheon that featured Idaho's first lady Lori Otter as the keynote speaker. When the choir finished and was filing out a side door, the first lady quietly slipped out of her seat to another hallway door and greeted/high-fived each student as they passed by. It was one of those unscripted, spontaneous acts that definitely made the day for those high school students.
A week filled with great events for great causes ... Thursday morning starts off with the Pathways to Independence Breakfast for TESH at The Coeur d'Alene Resort and the third annual Soup and Chili Cook-off takes place on the patio of the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce from 4 to 7 p.m., bring the family.
Friday is the Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County's "The Race is On" dinner and auction, also at The Coeur d'Alene Resort ... call 457-9089 or 665-1919 for tickets. The Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, JACC, is kicking off a new program, Rising Stars, on Friday night at 7 p.m. which highlights talented local young people. First up in the series will be Jordan and Ally Gibbs, performing pop and Broadway tunes.
Happy Birthday today to Faith Tonna, Laurie Cook, Dana Albanese, Rosemary Fuller and Karen Deering. Tomorrow Arlene Pischner, Keith Erickson, Terry Gurno, Will Wolff, Kevin Clement, Kathy Reid and Bob Votova will celebrate. On Friday Dan Gookin, Tom Hamilton, Tony Sutton, Bobbi Koep, Louise Jack and Holly Hall mark another trip around the sun. Saturday, Oct. 20 is the day Mary Lou Reed, Luke Malek, Mary Willeford, Jodie Krieg, Nick Peacock and Jerry Lee came into the world. Carly Goodlander, Mike Threadgill, Monika Krapfl and Paul Mikel will put on their party hats on Sunday. Starting the week with birthdays are Dick Brantley, Sara Fetters, Chastin Jaeger and Sara Humphrey. Tuesday, Oct. 23, is our youngest grandson Connor's 9th birthday. He shares the date with Sholeh Patrick, Greg Helbling, Nathan Tull, Holly Hansen, Tim Snyder and Margaret VanLeuven.
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. She was voted Best Local Writer for 2012 by the readers of the North Idaho Business Journal. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri is on the air Mondays and Wednesdays on 1080 ESPN AM (KVNI). Find her on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com.