Music
Music steals the spotlight at Fashion Cares
Saturday night was fashion night in T.O. as ACT's Fashion Cares fundraising event took the mainstage at the Convention Centre.
The theme this year had western/cowboy styles crossing with east Indian/Bollywood themes and as such, thousands poured into the south building donning outfits I could only describe as a mash up between old cowboy halloween costumes and faux east Indian do-it-yourself home mendhi kit designs. Ridiculous, yes, but the best dressed were indeed those that didn't take themslves TOO seriously, so the ridiculous worked quite well.
Fashion may have been the focus of this party, but as anyone in attendance can attest to, music is really what made the evening.
Scheduled performers such as Jann Arden, Brazilian Girls (amazing!) and Panjabi Hit Squad (there's some contrast) delivered flawless good tunes as expected, but it was the solo stylings of Feist that delivered a little shock and awe to the crowd.
As she appeared on stage, with the sole accompaniment of her electric guitar (unlike any other performer that night) the audience buzzed with people asking, 'who's Feist?', 'have you ever heard of this girl?', 'who is this?', etc. Sure, there were a lot of international folks there, but even the locals seemed clueless, so it was really up to Feist to prove herself... and so she did. Whether grooving along with her guitar or diving into an acapella break in which she never lost track of that perfect pitch, our Canadian girl sent the crowd into a frenzy of applause.
There was still a huge surprise in the bag though.
Across the pond from Germany, and having just stepped off the stage at Massey Hall the same evening, Erasure closed the night in grand fashion. The audience (well versed in 80's electropop) was elated. I'm not saying that people got up out of their seats in their excitement or anything, no no, I'm saying that they got up, freaked out, dropped their cowboy hats and RUSHED the stage.
Security scrambled, but some semblance of order was maintained, and people just crowded around the stage/catwalk to dance and sing along (not to mention shout "ANDY I LOVE YOU!!").
Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, who also dressed for the occasion, weren't feeling snobby either... they made no effort to push new material for this performance, good as it might have been. It was all classic hits (probably about 5 songs, too) that kept the crowd dancing til finally they said their thank you's, there was still much dancing and shouting, and then the lights came up.
End Scene.
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CHARITY GAP
AIDS COMMITTEE RAKES IN LOADS OF DOUGH, BUT SPENDS LITTLE SERVING CLIENTELE
BY JOHN KENNEDY
It's glamorous, it's star-studded and it's one of the premier social events of the year in Toronto. No wonder so many people are willing to spend big bucks at Fashion Cares. But it's a safe bet that most of the revellers at this Saturday's (May 31) casino-themed gala haven't got a clue just how little of their money will end up being spent on HIV/AIDS-related programs and services once the last blackjack hand has folded and the designer outfits have been put away. At least 50 per cent of the money raised at Fashion Cares goes to cover the cost of staging the event, and the rest ends up in the coffers of an AIDS organization with one of the worst spending records in the country.
Between April 1, 1999, and March 31, 2002, the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), which puts on Fashion Cares, raked in $13.6 million but spent just 38 per cent of total revenues, $5.3 million, on programs and services – a little less than the organization spent on fundraising. (ACT also gave $717,030 to various AIDS charities in Toronto in the same period.) To put it another way – as a total percentage of expenditures – the organization spent only 36 per cent of all its money on charitable works in 2001-2002 according to audited financial statements and its Annual Information Returns filed with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA).
These numbers fall short of the 60 per cent for programs and services that philanthropy experts recommend charities spend. In the U.S., however, the American Institute of Philanthropy gives top ratings to charities in the U.S. that put at least 75 per cent of revenues toward providing programs and spend no more than $25 to raise $100.
The organization could certainly improve its figures, ACT executive director Lori Lucier admits. "We agreed to make a targeted effort to do better," she says, adding that dollars spent on administration and salaries ultimately help the cause. "I don't think ACT has been irresponsible. We all strive to make sure that we're returning as much (as possible) of the revenues we're generating to our programs and services." The publicity surrounding Fashion Cares, she says, provides ACT with invaluable exposure and prestige. "There's no way to tangibly account for the added benefits," she says.
But despite its high profile in Toronto, ACT ranks at the bottom of the list of 20 or so local AIDS organizations when it comes to spending cash on charitable works. In 2000-2001, Casey House Hospice managed to spend 80 per cent of its $5.2 million in revenues on programs and services, while Fife House, which earned $3.3 million, spent 89 cents of every dollar on good works. Asian Community AIDS Services spent 96 per cent on programs, and the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention and Africans in Partnership Against AIDS spent 86 and 83 per cent respectively.
The Toronto People With AIDS Foundation, housed in the same building as ACT, spent just $552,002 – or 48 per cent – of its nearly $1.2 million in revenues on charitable works. Among major AIDS charities across the country, ACT's record is equally dismal. According to 2000-2001 financial documents filed with the CCRA, the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia, AIDS Committee of Windsor and Centre for AIDS Services of Montreal each spent more than 80 per cent of their earnings on programs and services. The Vancouver AIDS Society put 78 per cent of its $2.2 million earnings toward charitable work.
ACT spends so little on the cause, in fact, that it violates a federal regulation requiring that at least 80 per cent of tax-receipted revenues to be spent on charitable works. During the 2000 and 2001 fiscal years, ACT used only 68 per cent of its tax-receipted income on charitable works. Lucier chalks this up to some confusion over what types of donations qualified. She says ACT no longer provides tax receipts for gifts of goods and services, so the agency will likely meet the federal requirement from now on.