Western North Carolina AIDS Project
CONTACT: Bellamy Crawford, WNCAP Development Director
bcrawford@wncap.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 01/22/2025
Western North Carolina AIDS Project Holds Dining Out For Life® 2025 in Support of HIV Care and Prevention
Asheville, NC –
On Thursday, April 24th, 2025, the Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP) will hold its 23rd annual Dining Out For Life fundraiser, encouraging residents of Western North Carolina and surrounding states to dine out at participating restaurants in support of HIV care and prevention in our region.
Presented by Fred Anderson’s Prestige Subaru and with support from the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association, Dining Out For Life is one of the oldest and most popular HIV fundraisers in our region, celebrating both our local restaurant industry and those living and thriving with HIV in our neighborhoods.
“This year’s event will work a bit differently. Like others in Asheville, WNCAP clients, many of whom rely on medical case management for HIV care as well as social, emotional, and financial support, have experienced unimaginable losses because of the hurricane. We have rural, remote clients dependent on delivery services for food and HIV medication. Several of these clients were difficult to reach following the storm. Clients have suffered damages to property, reductions in income, and other financial hardships. So, this year’s Dining Out For Life is extremely important for our clients and for the health of our whole community,” says John Chafin, WNCAP Community Navigation Coordinator.
Like modifications made to the event’s structure in 2021 during the COVID pandemic, WNCAP has made the important decision to alter the model of its decades-old fundraiser this year to offer greater flexibility and support for local restaurants that may still be struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene.
“Instead of requiring participating restaurants to donate the traditional 20% of event day sales, WNCAP is offering participating restaurants the opportunity to donate any portion of event day sales they feel they can comfortably afford,” says Bellamy Crawford, WNCAP Development Director.
The success of this year's Dining Out For Life will ensure that those doubly impacted by HIV and the hurricane will not be overlooked in the midst of our region's widespread need. “This is why we are calling on our entire community to dine out this year,” says Crawford. “We have to take care of our most vulnerable neighbors, and I can’t think of a more fun, rewarding way to do that than participating in Dining Out For Life.”
WNCAP services are free, confidential, and available to people across our 18 Western North Carolina counties. To learn more about WNCAP and Dining Out For Life, please visit wncap.org/2025-dining-out-for-life/ or contact Bellamy Crawford at 828-573-0336. ###
