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What Grinds Our Gears: Charity campaigns at the checkout

OpinionsWhat Grinds Our Gears

Let’s normalize donating our money directly

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PHOTO: Simon Kadula / Unsplash

By:  Petra Chase, Features Editor

I recently moved close to a Walmart and inevitably find myself there for essentials. Every time, I’m asked if I want to add a donation onto my bill. This seems like a convenient way for shoppers to make a small difference, with wallets already open. It’s typically only a couple dollars — much less than the five perishable items that somehow came to a whopping $38 being held hostage at the register. But I’m shopping at Walmart because of the rising cost of groceries, like the low-income families that have always been Walmart’s main customer base. So why is the colossal enterprise that made $175 billion in profits last year (in the fiscal year of October 2024 to October 2025) asking us if we want to help make a difference? 

Walmart proudly announces they have donated millions of dollars to charities like the Children’s Miracle Network, Canadian Red Cross, and Breakfast Club Canada. Giant corporations like Walmart should absolutely be supporting local charities, but this money should come from their own hoarded pockets rather than scavenged from the customers they’re already milking profits from. 

Being sprung this question in an overstimulating environment as the conveyor belt moves the next person’s items towards the edge adds to the pressure. In the quick-moving conveyor belt, the ensuing fight or flight may cause you to feel like the greediest person alive for not sparing two dollars to “end world hunger.” But a simple response is available: “I don’t donate through Walmart.” When you donate to organizations and fundraising campaigns directly, you can be intentional about supporting causes that you care about, without unintentionally being a part of Walmart’s deceptive charitable branding. You also get tax credits later on. So, let’s make intentional giving the norm in 2026.

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Simon Fraser University’s independent student newspaper since 1965.

For advertising inquiries: [email protected]
For promotional inquiries: [email protected]

© The Peak Publications Society