The Wall Street Journal followed up Tuesday’s New York Times story about the annual gala of the Robin Hood Foundation with a piece about how charities in general are toning down their galas in light of the recession.
For a taste of what goes on at the Robin Hood event, check out the video above, which is from last year. But you get the point. It’s how they raised $72 million this year, including a $50 million matching grant from George Soros to fight poverty in New York.
The Journal story included a couple of tasty quotes from Jon Stewart’s performance as the emcee of the Robin Hood event, in which he gives bankers the business:
"Consider this … your Yom Kippur," Stewart quipped, referring to the Jewish Day of Atonement. "You’re going to donate a lot of money. Not enough, obviously, to offset all the s— you’ve done, but a lot." …
Throughout the night, Mr. Stewart reminded guests of their role in the country’s current economic straits. "We’re going to take all this and turn it into charity-default swaps," he said of the money raised. "We’re going to securitize it and sell it to China." Referring to last year’s event, he said, "We were burning money, using $100 bills as coasters. What the hell happened?"
For more on the Robin Hood event, MSNBC ran a segment on its "Morning Joe" show. It included an interview with NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, who made a pitch to ordinary Americans to donate to the charity, presumably to help the foundation’s board raise the $50 million needed to collect on the Soros grant.
You can check out the video here.
