Nine members of the eleven person advisory committee for the Clarksville Salvation Army stepped down last week following controversy at the charitable organization.
According to Robert Burchett, a former member of the advisory committee that focuses on fundraising for the Salvation Army, the nine members of the committee stepped down to make a statement to the Salvation Army main office.
"We felt like we needed to do something," Burchett said. "It was just almost like the last straw."
Since joining the committee more than six years ago, Burchett said three former commanding officers either resigned or were fired following different levels of controversy.
The most recent commanding officer, Jimmy Steele, was fired by the Salvation Army following allegations that he sold Kroger gift cards intended to help families in need on Ebay.
While the investigation is still ongoing into Steele's misconduct, Burchett believes the controversy surrounding the Salvation Army in Clarksville will negatively impact the organization.
"It's going to be really hard to fundraise for them here in Clarksville because so many people know what's happened," Burchett said.
The members of the committee who stepped down sent a letter to the Salvation Army office in Nashville asking the group to hand over the keys to the facility in Clarksville so another charity can come in and serve the people of Clarksville with a clean slate.
"Since what's happened, I believe we could bring another group in and it would do the most good," Burchett explained.
Members with the Salvation Army headquarters in Nashville said the Salvation Army is bringing in a couple from Bowling Green, Kentucky, to take over the Clarksville facility in hopes that they can restore the Clarksville Salvation Army back to it's original purpose.
