If you’ve been needing an excuse to eat out, consider July 23 your lucky day. As part of a global initiative to end HIV and AIDS, Dining Out for Life touches down in Las Vegas for its fourth year in a row.
The premise is simple: Dine at one of the participating restaurants on that day and part of the proceeds will go toward Golden Rainbow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing housing and emergency financial assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS. Hailing from Palm Springs, Golden Rainbow Executive Director Gary Costa says he wanted to partner with Dining Out for Life—which runs fundraising events in 60 cities throughout North America—after seeing its success in his former residence.
“It was a big community event, and I realized we didn’t have anything like that in the [Las Vegas] HIV/AIDS community, so I inquired about bringing it here,” he says.
Proceeds from the Las Vegas initiative go to Golden Rainbow, which helps provide housing and emergency support for people living with HIV. “The No. 1 barrier we find is lack of housing or housing insecurity,” Costa says. “People who are living on the streets tend to forget their medications, and it puts their health and the community at risk.”
Participating local restaurants include La Strega, Americana, the Broken Yolk Cafe, DW Bistro, Hakkasan Restaurant, the Kitchen at Atomic, Locale, Makers & Finders, Partage and Shiraz. Ron Decar’s Event Center will also host “A Sassy Review” on July 23, featuring Lance Burton and a buffet dinner. For more information, visit goldenrainbow.org/diningoutforlife.
