“Please donate food items so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner,” reads a sign accompanied by several plastic bins.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Cleveland Plain Dealer<\/a>\u00a0first reported on the food drive, which has sparked outrage in the area.<\/p>\n “That Wal-Mart would have the audacity to ask low-wage workers to\u00a0donate food to other low-wage workers \u2014 to me, it is a moral outrage,” Norma Mills, a customer at the store, told the Plain Dealer<\/a>.<\/p>\n A company spokesman defended the food drive, telling the Plain Dealer that it is evidence that employees care about each other.<\/p>\n “This store has been doing this for several years and is for associates that have faced an extreme hardship recently,” spokesman Kory\u00a0Lundberg told us.<\/p>\n Lundberg says an example of this would be a recent layoff in the family or some other financial hardship.<\/p>\n Wal-Mart has been criticized for paying low wages to its 2.2 million employees.<\/p>\n Last week, 50 people were arrested<\/a> after protesting the retailer’s pay at a store in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Wal-Mart turned a profit<\/a> of $15.7 billion last year.<\/p>\n The original version of this story stated that Wal-Mart was asking customers to donate food. The food drive is actually among employees.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n SEE ALSO:\u00a0 Facts About Wal-Mart That Will Blow Your Mind<\/a><\/p>\n