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Wednesday, the New York Times, advertising column covered the controversy of Columbus retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch donating funds to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for an emergency facility, which will be named after the New Albany based retailer. Children’s advocacy groups and individuals have formed a coalition to lobby the Children’s Hospital in Columbus to not put the Abercrombie & Fitch name on the facility.

When a Corporate Donation Raises Protests

The money, 10 million dollars was donated to Columbus Children’s Hospital in 2006 by the Central Ohio retailer. The hospital since renamed Nationwide Children’s Hospital after Nationwide Insurance donated 50 billion dollars, will complete the emergency facility and trauma center by 2012.

In the NYT column Jon M. Fitzgerald the president of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation is quoted that the hospital does not sell naming rights.Often controversial Abercrombie & Fitch is an inappropriate sponsor for the children’s hospital according to the coalition of children’s advocates.  A& F is guilty of “sexualizing and objectifying children” in the words of, the director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood in Boston, Susan Linn quoted in the New York Times advertising column.  The columnist, Stuart Elliott also quotes Linn as describing A&F as “among the worst corporate predators.”