The totals are in and it’s another record year for the Dining Out for Life® (DOFL) benefit for the Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP). Over $175,000 was raised to support WNCAP’s mission of providing case-managed care to men, women and children affected by the AIDS virus and help continue their prevention and education programs in WNC. Thanks to the support of their generous sponsors, only 6.9% of that income went to cover this year’s expenses.
“I am so very proud to be a part of such a giving, caring community here in WNC, who realize that HIV/AIDS is still a problem, not only in our area, but worldwide and generously give to such an important cause,” stated Event Chair, Harry Brown .
“WNCAP is so very fortunate in having so many supportive restaurants, incredible sponsors and of course our generous diners who give those extra dollars to help make a difference in the lives of so many. Also, without the army of 242 dedicated Ambassador Volunteers who share their time and talents to fill up our restaurants with friends, clients and families, we could not achieve the level of success we have had over the past 12 years.”
Jeff Bachar, Executive Director stated “In our 18 county area, the need for expanding HIV prevention, case management and advocacy is rapidly increasing. We are now seeing an influx of new clients moving to our area, who are already infected, plus experiencing new cases of HIV in WNC. At the same time, we are facing potential State and Federal funding cuts making private funds more critical in order for us to sustain our services. We remain focused on finding housing for clients, to enable them to keep medical appointments and help them sustain healthy, productive lives.
Funds from Dining Out for Life® will assist WNCAP in meeting these needs in innovative ways and position us to expand HIV prevention programs across our region”.
On April 24th, thousands of diners converged on restaurants in Asheville, Arden, Black Mountain, Brevard, Hendersonville, Highlands, Maggie Valley, Saluda, Spruce Pine and for the first time in Mars Hill, now covering 8 counties of WNC. Asheville is one of 57 licensed cities across the country and in Canada, raising funds to support their local AIDS service agency through DOFL. Asheville is the number one city, per capita, raising money through this event. WNCAP was also number two in actual dollars raised through extra donations in their drawing envelopes. This year’s winners of the drawing prizes were James Bogard of Asheville, dined at Farmburgers – two round trip airline tickets, Al Brady of Highlands who dined at On The Verandah – A one year subscription of chocolates and Tausha Forney & Mayra Vargas of Candler, who dined at Suwana’s Thai Orchid – a shopping cart full of organics products from Earth Fare. Congratulations to all.
WNCAP encourages all of this year’s diners to visit our DOFL restaurants all year round and remind them you are there because of their support.
WNCAP is a 501C3 non-profit whose mission it is to provide HIV related services to the people of Western North Carolina through client support, prevention education and outreach in a collaborative and financially responsible manner. The agency has been active in the WNC region since 1986 and currently serves more than 400 clients in the 18 counties that make up WNC.
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