Today I stumbled across a reminder about a great organization/event for restaurants looking for a way to give back to the community – and really, shouldn’t we all be doing that?

The event is called Dining Out For Life, and it’s produced by the Lifelong Aids Alliance, which provides a variety of care services to people living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses.

Now in its 17th year, Dining Out For Life takes place Thursday, April 29 in Seattle. To support this worthy cause, all you have to do is dine at a participating restaurant, grocery store, cafe, or bakery on this day, and 30% of your purchases will be donated to Lifelong AIDS Alliance, and the fight against illness and hunger in our community.  There’s also a special prize drawing for two free tickets on Alaska Airlines, for those that dine at a participating restaurant that day.

There are about 90 local merchants signed up already — we can do much better than that! – and you can view the entire list here. I’ve already forwarded the information to all my clients (and several others!) and I encourage you to do the same. This is a great opportunity for restaurants to help their communities and build goodwill with their customers.  As they say, it’s a “win-win” for everyone.

For more information, contact Trevor DeWitt at 206.957.1638 or TrevorD@llaa.org to sign up your restaurant today! Individuals can also participate as a volunteer. I hope to see you out and about April 29!

FROM DOFL: Dining Out For Life® is an annual fundraising event involving the generous participation of volunteers, corporate sponsors and restaurants. In exchange for their financial support, restaurants are listed in a city wide marketing campaign in an effort to increase customer traffic.

In 1991, Dining Out For Life® was created by an ActionAIDS volunteer in Philadelphia. Dining Out is now produced in over 55 cities throughout the United States and Canada.

More than 3,500 restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds from this one special night of dining to the licensed agency in their city. Nearly $4 million dollars a year is raised to support the missions of agencies throughout North America. With the exception of the annual licensing fee of $1,000, all money raised in these cities stays there.