Friday, June 22, 2012

10234: TORCH Is White Hot.

Adweek presented a slideshow of photos from the TORCH Charity Poker Tournament held last month. To clarify for the uninformed, TORCH is another philanthropic enterprise designed to steer underserved minority youth towards careers in communications and the arts. Here’s some standard hype from the organization’s website:

Since 1999, The TORCH Program has been dedicated to transforming the lives of underserved New York City public high school students by providing intensive exposure to career training and opportunities in communications and the arts, all while facilitating a meaningful way of increasing the diversity of the workforce in those industries. TORCH helps fill the void by providing students the opportunity to participate in meaningful after school activities where they are able to explore career options and interests, define career goals, and gain actual on the job training in communications and the arts, all under the guidance of professional mentors. Ultimately, students are provided with the tools to formulate and pursue career and educational goals.

Can’t help but think the event seemed awfully White—were any underserved kids invited to mingle and gamble with the over-served elite? Honestly, couldn’t someone have come up with a more culturally inclusive concept than poker night? Maybe a bid whist competition?

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