You can have “Three Cups of Tea” with us on Thursday, April 28th at Dining Out For Life and rest assured that the proceeds are directly donated to CARES! Or how about three glasses of wine at The Wine Loft? Join me and enjoy the company of others who share in your wish to support HIV/AIDS work in Southwest Michigan!

What I enjoy most about Dining Out For life is the community support.  Sometimes in the world of non-profits and deficit budgets and flat funding I feel like we’re out here doing the work by ourselves.  Then we have DOFL and when I welcome people to the restaurant and they say, “yes, we know, that’s why we’re here” I could cry!  I forget that there are MANY people out there who are affected by HIV and support our work in so many ways.  Thank you from all of us infected/affected and fighting the stigma a ripple at a time.

This is my first year being a table host at a restaurant for Dining Out For Life. My dear friend Karen Suglia and I are hosting at Theo & Stacy’s on Westnedge for the dinner service on Thursday, April 28th. I like Dining Out for Life because it supports a cause that’s near and dear to my heart. I lost a cousin to HIV/AIDS back when it was still called “the flu”. I’m also quite a fan of food and friends so dining out is a fun and social activity that I enjoy as well.

Through Dave Watt’s Mr. Friendly outreach, I’ve gotten to learn so much more about the services that CARES provides. I knew they did wonderful things in the community, but now I can speak intelligently about them when asked. I am a straight ally, and I do all I can to encourage the reduction of any stigma relative to being gay, transgender or questioning. So helping with HIV/AIDS awareness is a natural fit for me. I’m very excited to be a hands-on participant this year in Dining Out for Life!

The following was submitted by Kelly Doyle, who was previously employed at
CARES and is back pitching in with our signature annual spring event.

So it is that time of year again, springtime…the birds are chirping, it is warmer
out and Dining Out for Life is just around the corner. Dining Out for Life is one
of my favorite events of the year! CARES brought this great event to our town 3
years ago and it has been building momentum ever since. Why? Because it is
simple! Eat out at a great restaurant and they donate a percentage of the money
to CARES. How easy! And believe me, I think that piece of chocolate cake has
zero calories when it goes to a good cause!

At the Dining Out for Life event each year, I volunteer to be an ambassador at
one of the participating restaurants. I enjoy the job because it feels like I am
having lots of friends over to my house to eat and I don’t have to cook or clean.
I get to socialize at each table and talk about CARES and how each customer
is supporting our event. And here’s another great thing that happens that
night, if you make a donation of $25 or more to CARES, you get a really sweet
discount card, which gives 20% off of food at 15 participating restaurants and off
chocolate at Confections with Convictions every Tuesday for a year! It is a great
deal and you get one when you donate $25.00 to CARES. I used my card all the
time last year. And since I used to work for CARES, I know the money is going
to a great organization and to clients who really need the help. CARES reaches
thousands of people each year in Southwest Michigan with prevention messages
and safe sex conversations and people living with HIV find support and a safe
haven.

I hope to see you all at one of our participating restaurants on Thursday, April
28th!

Click here to find out who is participating: http://www.diningoutforlife.com/
kalamazoo/participating