The Salvation Army Opens a Digital Thrift Store On Roblox (nerds.xyz)
- Reference: 0180837858
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/02/21/0632214/the-salvation-army-opens-a-digital-thrift-store-on-roblox
- Source link: https://nerds.xyz/2026/02/salvation-army-roblox-digital-thrift-store/
> The Salvation Army has launched what it calls the world's first digital thrift store inside Roblox, an experience named [2]Thrift Score that lets players browse virtual racks and buy digital fashion for their avatars.
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> While I understand the strategy of meeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha where they already spend time and money, I feel uneasy about turning something that, in the real world, often serves low income families in genuine need into a gamified aesthetic inside a video game, even if proceeds support rehabilitation and community programs, because a thrift store is not just a quirky brand concept but a lifeline for many people, and packaging that reality as entertainment creates a strange disconnect that is hard to ignore.
"To be clear, proceeds from Thrift Score are intended to support The Salvation Armyâ(TM)s programs nationwide..." [3]this article points out . "If it drives awareness and funds programs that help people in need, that is a win. But if it turns thrifting into just another cosmetic skin in a digital marketplace, then we should at least be willing to say that it feels off."
[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli
[2] https://www.salvationarmythriftscore.com/
[3] https://nerds.xyz/2026/02/salvation-army-roblox-digital-thrift-store/
Double bad (Score:1)
Encouraging addiction to support an evil religious cult
militarism (Score:2)
Isn't exposing young influenceable minds to violent militarism like this "Army" inappropriate? :)
Let's see... (Score:2)
how can we monitize poverty? Can we get AI involved?
It's good they branched out (Score:3)
From hating gay people and molesting children
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvation_Army#Controversies
Re: (Score:2)
Conversely, I was going to say that people keep saying that there are child predators on Roblox, and now we know it's true.
Who cares? (Score:2)
If you used every piece of paper on Earth, both sides, to make a handwritten list of everything I might be worried about now or might ever be worried about, this would not be on it.
capitalism may be ending! (Score:2)
With robots/AI poised to take all jobs TPTB actually allowed Clara Mattei [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] on NPR! That means they are allowing the brainwashed hoi polio to be exposed to the idea that capitalism is NOT the best thing since sliced bread.
Her book The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Video Clara Mattei: capitalism is not natural - it’s enforced: [3]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Mattei
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Capital_Order
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M_dq_0ljsc
Salvation Army never helped when we were hungry (Score:2)
After my mother and father divorced, the child support was so lean that at times we had little food. The Salvation Army never helped us.
Thrift stores are a dead zone these days (Score:2)
Anything of any value goes up on eBay. They aren't charities they are for profit companies that keep the profit inside the company so that they can get away with calling themselves charities.
There are plenty of good local thrift stores but you have to go looking for them. The big ones are just money makers for their owners
Re: (Score:2)
Salvation Army is 501(c)(3). They're a "not for profit".
Re: (Score:2)
Not for profit doesn't mean not for revenue.