The Birth of Ashville's Dining Out For Life

During the 1980's and 1990's, local HIV fundraising giant Harry Brown lived in Atlanta and worked for several AIDS service organizations in the city. While there, he had the opportunity to serve as a Volunteer Ambassador for Project Open Hand's annual Dining Out For Life (DOFL) fundraiser. The first year Harry participated in DOFL as a Volunteer Ambassador, he didn't know how deeply the event would change his life (and ours!)

"I loved being an Ambassador. I'd lost a lot of friends to AIDS in the 80's, and Dining Out For Life felt like a celebration of their lives. It was wonderful to be able to honor them with something like that. It was a lot of work, but it was something that I just really enjoyed. It was there in Atlanta when I was invited to join the DOFL International Board of Directors. I accepted this position before ever having organized one of the DOFL events on my own. Up until then, I'd only ever been an Ambassador," Harry says.

     Harry Brown (middle) with Peter Pollay (left), owner of Posana, and Michel Baudouin, owner of Bouchon, 2014 -- photo by Citizen Times

In 1991, Harry coordinated the very first AIDS Walk in Atlanta (which raised more than $550,000, boasted more than 22 thousand participants, and was topped off by a surprise visit by Elton John). His dedication to fundraising for local AIDS care programs and services in Georgia continued for almost a decade. Then, in 2000, Harry decided to make the move to the mountains of Western North Carolina, suitcase of DOFL brochures, posters, and table tents in tow.

"When I got here, I  knocked on Western North Carolina AIDS Project's door because I was looking for work similar to what I'd been doing for so long in Atlanta," Harry says.

In 2021, Harry happened to be in the right place at the right time. While searching for creative ways to channel his incredible passion for and experience in HIV fundraising, there was another Asheville initiative brewing in the heads of a few local restaurant owners in town.

Posana, longtime DOFL Participating Restaurant and AIR member makes AIDS ribbon cupcakes every year in honor of Dining Out For Life

Eric Scheffer of the renowned Eric Scheffer Group and owner of the then newly opened Savoy restaurant, met Harry one night in his restaurant. Being of like minded enthusiasm for creative projects and new ideas, the two struck up a conversation that eventually led to an important professional collaboration and a longtime friendship.

"The timing was perfect," says Eric, "I'd only recently been talking with Michel Bouduin, then owner of  the French restaurant Bouchon, Dwight Buther of Vincenzo's Ristorante and Bistro, and Tracy Adler from the Cafe on the Square about a local independent restaurant coalition that could support and promote Asheville's locally owned hospitality industry," says Eric. "Harry came along with this Dining Out For Life multi-restaurant fundraiser idea that had been so successful in Atlanta. We all thought it seemed like a good fit with what we were working on here."

Waitress during WNCAP's Dining Out For Life, 2016

Eric and Harry decided to join forces to create both a Asheville City-wide HIV fundraiser along side a restaurant group that promoted the once-a-year fundraiser while also supporting local restaurant owners who wanted to share promotional opportunities. Originally the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR) was made up of DOFL participating restaurants, each donating 20% of their sales to Western North Carolina AIDS Project during the annual DOFL fundraiser. Harry would recruit restaurants to participate in AIR as well as in DOFL, and Eric would do the same.

"We decided that DOFL could help launch AIR, and AIR member restaurants could support the great work that WNCAP was doing," says Eric, who has a personal connection to WNCAP's mission. "The closest person to me growing up -- my cousin Brice -- was gay, and I lived with him for 6 years in L.A. I was there during the height of the AIDS crisis, and  through Brice, I got very involved in the fight against HIV in California. We spent a lot of time protesting and supporting the queer community during that intense and scary time. And besides, Brice and his friends out there always had the best parties," Eric says.

As soon as Eric moved from L.A to Asheville, he wanted to get involved with the LGBTQ community. "I met Harry, who had this amazing, infectious determination and passion, and he was looking for ways to really build the Dining Out For Life event in Asheville, and everybody knows "you can't say no to Harry". He had a real gift for helping people understand why Dining Out For Life is so critical.  You know, in the early Dining Out days, there were people here in Asheville who understood the importance of HIV care and prevention, but there were also those who didn't know anything beyond the stigma and fear of AIDS. The thing I came to understand about HIV over the years is that it effects everybody: gay/straight...it doesn't matter, old/young...it doesn't matter, black/white...it doesn't matter," says Eric.

2024 Participating Restaurant, Twisted Laurel and Volunteer Ambassador John Stewart

Neither Eric nor Harry knew how quickly or how much Dining Out For Life would grow under Harry's leadership.

"I spent a lot of time talking to people about what the event was all about. I had to sit with people and explain so much to get them to understand that the stigma and fear were unfounded. I reached out to a lot of sponsors and businesses for support. Our favorite sponsor, Prestige Subaru, (now Fred Anderson's Prestige Subaru) was the presenting sponsor that first year, and they're still Asheville's DOFL presenting sponsor to this day, twenty-three years later!" says Harry.

"I remember how important the Asheville DOFL ambassadors were," says Eric. "There were folks like Rick Ramsy and Ron and David, and they'd invite all their friends. It was an exciting time. They'd turn the whole thing into this party. And it was so inspiring to see Harry with so much energy and purpose," says Eric.

Gan Shan, longtime DOFL Participating Restaurant and AIR member

In the first year, Dining Out For Life recruited the participation of 15 AIR member restaurants and raised $25,000.

Over the next couple of yeas, AIR continued to grow as new restaurants joined the group, and DOFL branched out to incorporate restaurants in a few of the additional counties outside of Ashevlle, where WNCAP offered services.

 By 2014 WNCAP's Dining Out For Life, under Harry's leadership, was one of the top five income producing DOFL participating cities in the country, outperforming cities like San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami. This year, DOFL had grown to include more than 100 restaurants and raised over $175,000 for AIDS care and prevention in WNC.

Dining Out For Life has received a series of setbacks since Harry retired in 2018. COVID led to the creation of "Dining In For Life" as well as a significant decrease in the culture and popularity of the event. More recently, Hurricane Helene has made it difficult for recovering restaurants to support the fundraiser.

Both Harry and Eric believe in the ongoing importance of Dining Out For Life, and the hope that the event will one day return to the record income producing heights it experienced prior to the pandemic.

"DOFL is still important, even if AIDS isn't an "Above the Headlines" issues in the media anymore. But it is still a crisis, and it really should still be getting the attention it deserves," says Eric.

"Dining Out For Life is especially important for awareness. We began to really accomplish that more when we moved the event outside of Asheville. We wanted to get the message out that "Hey-- AIDS still exists." That was the most important thing we could accomplish in our most remote, high-risk communities. And moving outside of Buncombe County helped us grow the event and reach a larger population for outreach and education. That's still important today," says Harry.

DOFL Diner during, 2024. Photo by Brennan Henshaw

This year's Dining Out For Life will take place at participating restaurants across Asheville on April 24th. Mark your calendars and choose your favorite restaurant today. Together, we can raise awareness and funds for life-saving services while supporting our local restaurant industry at the same time.

DINE OUT. END HIV.

Harry and Eric in Eric's Vinnie's Neighborhood Italian Restaurant