Still Life with Robin: Everyone Out on Thursday!

Food and Friends image

by Peggy Robin

If you eat out only a few times a year, then this coming Thursday, April 28, should be your day to do it. If you eat out a lot, then just add Thursday to your calendar as you make your restaurant reservations. And if you eat out a moderate amount, then be sure to plan to do so this coming Thursday. In other words, everyone out of the kitchen on Thursday! Why? Because on Thursday you have the chance to enjoy a good meal at a restaurant that will devote some or all of the proceeds of your check to provide food to people in this area who struggling with serious illness. The food is delivered by friendly volunteers working for Food & Friends http://www.foodandfriends.org/site/pp.asp?c=ckLSI8NNIdJ2G&b=7565475&sid=226705822.  

This all happens at an annual event called Dine Out for Life. I’ve been pushing it in this column for the past few years because I’ve observed firsthand how it works, both as a diner and once, as a volunteer food deliverer. It’s the perfect illustration of a win-win scenario. You get a meal at a restaurant that you select from a list of restaurants – you can search by neighborhood, type of cuisine, or percentage given to Food & Friends – and so get the type of meal you want in the location that suits you best – and someone else who has difficulty going shopping or cooking gets a tasty, healthy meal delivered right to their door.

Click on http://www.diningoutforlife.com/washingtondc/restaurants to use the restaurant filters to pick the place you’d like from over 60 restaurants in DC or close-in Maryland or Virginia. You can reserve through Open Table: http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?pid=166&m=9

Here’s the description direct from Food & Friends about what it does:

Food & Friends is the only nonprofit organization in the Washington, DC area providing daily, home-delivered, specialized meals, groceries and nutrition counseling to individuals who are battling HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses. The funds raised through Dining Out for Life allow Food & Friends to continue to provide these critical services at NO COST to our clients [http://www.diningoutforlife.com/washingtondc]

On top of that, Charity Navigator gives Food & Friends its top rating for transparency and accountability, so you know the organization is well run and doing what it says it’s doing. And all you need to do to support its work is have a nice meal out on Thursday! Enjoy!

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Still Life with Robin is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.