Dining Out For Life at Carmel’s in Asheville. Photo bv Cathy DeWeese.
The Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP) will be hosting the 15th annual Dining Out For Life (DOFL) event on Thursday, April 27, in several counties across the state. Each year, more than a hundred WNC restaurants participate in WNCAP’s largest fundraising event by pledging 20 percent of the day’s proceeds to the nonprofit. These funds help WNCAP continue to provide services like medical case management, prevention, advocacy and education.
“This event has become a staple fundraiser in WNC,” says Jesse Oates Vest, WNCAP special events coordinator. “Not only does it help with crucial funding for WNCAP and folks in WNC living with HIV/AIDS, but it also helps keep an awareness of the issue in public view. People need to know that HIV/ AIDS is not a thing of the past and to learn how to talk about it in an open manner.”
Diners will have the opportunity to enter a raffle for one of three prizes: a cash prize in the form of a check card donated by Fairway Independent Mortgage, a 12-month Fine Arts Theatre subscription that includes tickets and snacks, or a cart full of organic and natural products and groceries from Earth Fare.
“There is a style of restaurant for everyone and we have participating restaurants in several different counties in the area,” Vest says. A list of participating restaurants can be found on the event’s website.
WNCAP is seeking volunteers to participate in the DOFL event as restaurant ambassadors. Ambassadors work to fill their chosen restaurant with friends and family, meet and greet guests as they arrive, and help manage donations and the raffle.
Mark Arrington, who has been volunteering as a DOFL restaurant ambassador with his partner Bobby Hill for five years, says the event is a perfect way to engage with the local community and raise awareness for WNCAP. “It’s a chance for us to get out there and educate people about what WNCAP does for folks living with HIV/AIDS,” he says. “It’s a cause that is near and dear to our hearts.”
For more information and a list of restaurants that still need ambassadors, visit diningoutforlife.com/asheville.
