Gen X is Taking Care of It's Own
Toronto Star
July, 21, 1998
By: Ben Rayner
Typed By: -= Ð'Ârcy =-
Street Outreach Services came out of it with a balanced budget. The Smashing Pumpkins got a heartfelt thank-you, a day proclaimed in their name and some nifty Roots leather jackets.
And a couple of thousand Toronto dwellers got a blast of epic, adventurous rock'n'roll.
Whichever way you look at it, the Pumpkins' sold-out concert at Massey Hall last night-from which all proceeds were donated to S.O.S., a local organization that works with teen prostitues-turned out to a good deal for all invloved.
"I don't usually have the honour I have today, which is to say The Smashing Pumpkins have become my Number 1 chartbusters," said S.O.S. director Susan Miner during a news conference at S.O.S.'s Younge St. offices with Pumpkins Billy Corgan and James Iha to thank the Chicago-based band for its contribution.
The group's donation is "a gift that goes beyond description," she said, and means S.O.S. no longer faces a "negative-balance budget" in the year ahead.
The group wanted to make "a statement about Generation X taking care of Generation X and Generation Y," said Corgan.
"It's something as simple as this: There's the literal money that we're giving, which is obviously going to have a big impact on this organization," he said. "But at the same time, when a kid picks up a paper and reads that The Smashing Pumpkins are willing to work with an organization that helps keeps kids off the street from prostitution, it also de-stigmatizes the notion that these people are criminals and horrible people.
The Pumpkins chose S.O.S from a list of local charities put together by their management because its approach to helping young prostitutes off the streets is 'not moralistic and it's forward-thinking,'" Corgan explained. "It's not 'you're bad, we're good.' They're normal people, just like everyone else."