Community groups across America continue to join together to keep Wal-Mart out of their neighborhood until the company changes its business model. Today, newspapers highlighted community activism in cities including Knightdale, North Carolina, Grand Haven, Michigan, and Lancaster, Michigan. These groups are educating their fellow citizens about the poverty-level wages, unaffordable health care, traffic, crime, pollution, and noise that Wal-Mart would bring into their communities.

From the News & Observer (NC):

Several residents have formed Citizens for the Cessation of the Knightdale Supercenter, a group that is trying to persuade officials to oppose the Wal-Mart. Last week, more than 30 people attended a meeting organized by the group.

The group's three founders --Sherri Schultheiss, Rita Rakestraw and Paula Gavasto --spent much of the meeting telling attendees why they believe the Supercenter would not be a good addition to the community. The meeting began with a 20-minute clip from "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices," a documentary that vilifies the retailer for its business practices.

Gavasto, who lives on Mingocrest Drive in Timber Ridge, said she objects to the Supercenter because of the store's size and proximity to homes, and because it's a Wal-Mart. Gavasto said since learning a Supercenter might be built behind her house, she's tried to find out as much as possible about the company. She said she has problems with the way Wal-Mart treats its employees and worries about the environmental impact the store will have.

"I don't shop at Wal-Mart anymore," she said.