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Store excludes gift-wrappers Photo by Jim Craven From left, Randa Duffy, Brittainy Todd, Rebecca Nitcher, Lindsay Hoque and Katie Rozett are ready to wrap with no place to go -- except maybe the Wal-Mart parking lot. 4-H club gets stuck with paper and no place to wrap By WENDY SIPOREN TALENT -- There's no room at the inn for three non-profits trying to raise money from holiday shoppers at Wal-Mart. A recent clarification in corporate policy means that the Salvation Army bell-ringer, the Talent Lions and a 4-H horse group must conduct their business out in the cold. After five years of wrapping presents inside Wal-Mart as their annual fund-raiser, the members of the Quail Runners Club are disappointed about Wal-Mart's about-face. They say it would be both impractical and uncomfortable to try to wrap presents for people outside in the cold and rain. "We wanted to let people know so they didn't think we just weren't showing up," said 4-H leader Barb Meyers. "Maybe somebody will buy our paper." Co-leader Jonel Todd said the club has $500-$700 worth of wrapping paper, bows and ribbons. In anticipation of this season's work, they ordered another $300 worth of paper and now are faced with paying for paper they won't be able to use. Talent Wal-Mart manager Victor Reyes said the company has had a long-standing policy that bans solicitors from the building. "There were exceptions or just oversights (of this policy) in the past," admitted Reyes. But he said that he recently received notice from the corporate level clarifying that the vestibule is considered part of the building. "If it hasn't been enforced, I apologize for that. We're not singling them out," Reyes said, adding he didn't know the reasons behind the corporate policy. Wal-Mart's district manager could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The policy wasn't being strictly enforced Wednesday afternoon when cold temperatures and a stiff wind drove Talent Lion Marshall Cuff and Salvation Army volunteer Larry Marchese inside the enclosed entryway. "It's like below 32 degrees outside. That's why both of us came in here," said Marchese as he handed out candy canes to passing children. "They haven't said anything." A small table of Sees candy, a fund-raiser for the Lions, sat overlooked outside the building. "I haven't sold a box," said Cuff. "If it rains, we'll just have to pick up and go." The 4-H group normally raises from $1,000 to $1,500 by wrapping presents 12 hours a day at Wal-Mart for the two weeks before Christmas. They use the money for arena fees, the Jackson County Fair and a horse show. They also donate several hundred dollars annually to a community group or Christmas charity. After reserving their space on the Wal-Mart calendar last January, the group was surprised to learn last week that another group, the North Medford High School Band, would also be wrapping presents at the Talent location. The idea of competition, along with the cold, forced them to abandon their plans. So far they haven't found a convenient alternative location. "I don't know where else you would go," said Meyers. "There's not much in Talent. I just wish somebody had told us earlier." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA