Dining Out For Life.

Today I took part as a volunteer Ambassador in a fundraiser called "Dining Out For Life".

It has a really simple concept. Restaurants that take part will donate 25% of their food revenues for the night to the fundraiser. The nice thing is that the money raised stays in the community. The organization that organizes and operates this fundraiser here is AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI). All the money they raise goes to funding the various programs here in Victoria and across Vancouver Island.

What I really like about this fundraiser is that the restaurant patrons don't have to do anything special. If the restaurant that you have chosen to eat at is on the list of establishments taking part then all you have to do is order your food, enjoy it and pay your bill. Simple. The restaurant will tally the food sold and then donate the 25% that was agreed upon when they signed up. We are also fortunate that a brewery likes to take part so they agreed to donate $1 for every bottle of their brew that is sold during the night at each of the restaurants. So as a patron you can help out by eating and enjoying a bottle of brew too.

As with any fundraiser there is also the opportunity to donate some money without purchasing food or beverage. One of the incentives for Dining Out For Life (DOFL) is the prize. Each patron is given an entry form which allows them an opportunity to win a cruise for two worth $3000 by one of our sponsors. Another little perk of this fundraiser is that if the patron who wins the prize listed the name of his server on the entry form then the server wins a prize of $500. A nice perk for the server.

Tonight I was a The Ledge, a local gay lounge/pub. It isn't the biggest place but it is a nice one. Located in the touristy area of downtown Victoria within one of the older hotels. The owner/operator is a great guy and he has some pretty decent staff as well. Normally is is a pretty quiet laid back place but because of the fundraiser it was packed. Thankfully there was enough staff to handle it.

I had fun and so did my fellow ambassador. There was one downside and it was a stupid one. A local musician had organized and promoted a performance that he was going to do at The Ledge. He arrived early, got himself set up and waited till some people started to arrive. The first group was a table of 12. The musician started playing and all seemed to be going well. Within 15 minutes of starting his first set the table of 12 complained. Some one from the table came over to the owner and said "Could you please move the performer to another part of the lounge or get him to tone it down, we are trying to have conversations at our table and we cannot hear each other over the music." The performer moved his chair over a bit and turned himself to face a different direction so that the table in question wouldn't get as much of the music. Unfortunately the table complained more than once.

Personally I thought they were idiots. The musician wasn't using a microphone and was playing a ukulele; he was not that loud. I had no difficulty in having a conversation with my fellow ambassador and we were the same distance away from the musician as the table of 12. I got the impression the complainers were the type that aren't happy unless they can complain about something, someone that is all about drama even when they claim otherwise. It was a shame as the musician was doing this for free and he was pretty damn good. I suggested to the owner and the performer that they should organize a night where the highlight is the performance and not something else. They both liked that idea.

Over all the night went well and we will find out in a week or so how much money was raised and by the middle of next month we will find out who the winner of the prize is as well.

For me it was a good opportunity to do something for my community and a cause I support. It also allowed me to go out and have some fun with some great people!