The Target team offers our deepest appreciation and condolences to the family of Sean Brazas for their sacrifice and to the Silverdale, Wash., community for its loss. We sincerely apologize that actions and comments by our store team marred a community event to honor this hero on Friday. We are connecting with the store team immediately to learn from this so it doesn’t happen again.
At Target, we proudly support the men and women who serve our country in the armed forces and their families. For years, Target has donated funds and volunteer hours to local and national veterans' and military organizations. For example, we sponsor a national scholarship; support a reading program that helps parents and children stay connected during long deployments; give grants for children’s programming while parents are serving in the military; and provide support by funding and preparing care packages for troops serving abroad and arranging for products to be shipped to military camps. Our team members spend hundreds of hours each year volunteering in a variety ways for military organizations; and we offer increased benefits to our own team members who are on deployment.
As a company that prides itself on supporting our military, we are disappointed in this development and working actively to connect with the Brazas family and others connected to the event in Silverdale.