Dining Out For Life will celebrate its 23rd anniversary on April 25 with a number of new elements.
The annual event, which donates proceeds to benefit individuals living with HIV/AIDS, is an all-day opportunity to contribute to the fight against the disease by dining at participating restaurants, which donate a third of the cost of every meal ordered.
ActionAIDS, AIDS Delaware, Family & Community Service of Delaware County and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania will be the beneficiaries of DOFL.
This year’s event not only includes new restaurants, but will also be the first time food trucks will participate in DOFL.
ActionAIDS director of development Michael Byrne said the food-truck option will allow the benefit to extend throughout the day and enable those looking for a midday meal to lend their support.
“We have a couple restaurants that participate during lunchtime, like Day By Day at 21st and Sansom streets, but a lot of restaurants are for dinner, so when the food-truck folks got in touch with us and wanted to participate, it was a great opportunity to have a lunch event,” Byrne said.
Nine food trucks will be located at 12th Street and Passyunk Avenue from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Participating trucks include Vernalicious, The Cow and the Curd, Spot Burgers, Delicias, Gigis & Big R, The Farm Truck, Cupcake Carnivale, Mac Mart and The Sunflower Truck.
“We are really excited about the addition of the Gourmet Food Truck Round-Up in 2013,” said ActionAIDS executive director Kevin Burns. “Having all of those great trucks, all in the same place, all making a difference in the lives of our clients, is inspiring. Not to mention, really fun and delicious.”
Byrne said DOFL has more than 160 participating restaurants in the Delaware Valley, with 140 located in Philadelphia. Additional venues are located throughout Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties, Southern New Jersey and Northern Delaware.
This marks a new high for participation, which hit a record 136 last year.
The host restaurant this year will be Parc, a Stephen Starr establishment located in Rittenhouse Square, 227 S. 18th St.
Byrne said ActionAIDS makes a conscious effort to not overload the event with restaurants in order to keep each place as busy as possible.
“We want everyone to be busy because the restaurants that participate want to make these donations and a difference in their community,” he said. “We have a loyal group of restaurants that always participate and have been for 23 years, so we are grateful to those, but we also have some new restaurants who are very loyal to the event as well.”
Byrne said organizers are aiming to raise more than the $250,000 the event nearly reached last year.
Mondo Guerra, an HIV-positive contestant on season eight of “Project Runway” is the new spokesperson for Dining Out For Life International and designed a T-shirt for the event.
“It is great to have Mondo on board,” Byrne said.
Celebrity chef Daisy Martinez will be in Philly to help the city mark DOFL.
Byrne said DOFL allows longtime Philadelphia restaurants to remember staff they lost to the epidemic while working to curb the disease in the future.
“I think so many of our restaurants who have been in business for a long time — back in the late 1980s and early’90s — lost staff. Their waiters died, they lost members of their professional family,” Byrne said. “They are doing it to remember folks, as well as to make it clear to everyone that they are not in business just for business but for the community.”
The event is also a good chance for individuals to enjoy a meal with a good cause attached to the bill.
“I remember the first DOFL 23 years ago, before I started working at ActionAIDS, and I thought it was the greatest event,” Byrne said. “It is a great opportunity for folks who enjoy food to go out for a great meal, but to make a difference as well.”
For more information on the event or to view participating restaurants, visit www.diningoutforlife.com/philadelphia. .