Wal-Mart Watch Calls on Wal-Mart to Match Donations to Shank Family

Wal-Mart Watch is calling on three major, Wal-Mart-funded foundations to match the funds recently raised for former Wal-Mart employee Deborah Shank and her family. The Wal-Mart Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and the Wal-Mart Associates in Critical Need Fund have all been invited to donate to the cause. Many generous individuals have already contributed money to the Shank family (click here to donate) and with Wal-Mart Watch matching dollar-for-dollar, we’ve raised $10,000. The following letter was sent to the groups, asking the multi-billion dollar company to match that sum.

Walton Family Foundation
Attn:  Mr. Buddy D. Philpot,
Executive Director
P.O. Box 2030 Bentonville, AR 72712

December 5, 2007

Dear Mr. Philpot:

With the recent nationwide news coverage, you have likely heard about the tragic story of former Wal-Mart employee Deborah Shank of Jackson, Missouri.

Mrs. Shank was a devoted Wal-Mart employee when she was left permanently brain damaged after a tragic collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago. Her Wal-Mart health plan promptly paid her initial medical bills, and the Shanks subsequently won a modest settlement from the trucking company.  After lawyers’ fees and expenses were deducted, the remaining $417,000 was placed in a special trust fund to pay for Mrs. Shank’s future medical expenses – around-the-clock care for the remainder of her life. 

Wal-Mart, within its legal rights of subrogation under the health care contract, successfully sued the Shank family for reimbursement of $470,000 in medical expenses, plus the company’s legal fees and expenses.  Wal-Mart will drain all of the funds from Mrs. Shank’s trust, leaving no money for her future medical care.  In addition, the amount of Wal-Mart’s lawsuit exceeds the trust amount, which will plunge the Shank family further into debt.

Deborah Shank and her family have suffered tremendous losses, starting with the terrible accident seven years ago.  Last year, they also lost a son in Iraq and recently, Jim Shank divorced Deborah to allow her to qualify for more medical assistance under Medicaid and Social Security.  To make matters worse, Jim Shank himself was also diagnosed with cancer and is currently in remission.

Wal-Mart Watch launched a fundraiser last week for the Shank Family and pledged to match all donated funds.  Next week, we will present the Shank family with a check for $10,000. While $10,000 will provide only a small fraction of the amount of money the Shank family will need to support Deborah’s full-time medical care for decades, it can at least help ease the immediate burden on the Shank family.

We implore you to match our donation of $10,000 or more from your fund to assist this fellow Wal-Mart employee and her family at this devastating time. If ever a Wal-Mart employee needed a little help, it is Deborah Shank. 

We appreciate your serious consideration of this request and hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

David Nassar
Wal-Mart Watch

Cc: Mr. Brad Fisher, Director, Wal-Mart Foundation
Ms. Theresa Graham, Wal-Mart Associates in Critical Need Foundation

Enclosures

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, December 05, 2007