A Taste for Life is now on!
Make your plan to dine and make a difference! A Taste for Life runs from April 19 to 25
Photo: Past participants of A Taste For Life in front of Chaucer’s Pub (photo taken pre-Covid-19)
REGIONAL HIV/AIDS CONNECTION (RHAC)’s A Taste for Life fundraiser is now underway with more than a dozen local restaurant partners participating.
This year marks the event’s 18th year in the London community, but given the significant challenges of the past year, including for so many local restaurants, RHAC has opted to reinvent the popular fundraiser for 2021.
The event, presented by TD Bank Group, will be a full week this year, running April 19-25. RHAC is not asking local restaurants for anything except permission to promote them and celebrate their longstanding commitment and generosity, and will encourage Londoners to make a plan for takeout, given the current government-mandated stay-at-home order, and to consider giving online.
Already, more than a dozen local restaurants are on board, some of whom have been supporting the initiative for nearly two decades. They include:
- Addis Ababa Restaurant
- Blackfriars Bistro & Catering
- Cantoni’s
- Casa Cubana
- Craft Farmacy
- Dawghouse Pub & Eatery
- Karahi and Grill
- Marienbad Restaurant & Chaucer’s Pub
- Mykonos Restaurant
- Plant Matter Kitchen
- Thaifoon
- The Church Key
- The River Room
- Wich is Wich
- Winks Eatery
- Unique Food Attitudes
Given this year’s pandemic pivot, RHAC is hopeful that Londoners will consider stepping up to help make up the difference in donations that would have typically come from restaurants and also from direct donations at tables by on-site diners.
Photo: Marienbad Restaurant and Chaucer’s Pub
Jerry Pribil, from Marienbad Restaurant and Chaucer’s Pub, a downtown London restaurant which has been serving European specialities since 1974, has been supporting A Taste for Life for 15 years, and says he greatly appreciates RHAC’s sensitivity to the current pressures on restaurants and hopes the community will still plan to dine at home and donate online to help the charity.
“We are so proud to support this initiative and hope to do so long into the future,” said Pribil. “While we won’t have the energy and excitement of in-house dining this year, we’re all looking forward to a terrific week of takeout and helping to encourage support for the programs that help so many in our community.”
RHAC is dedicated to positively impacting the lives of individuals and diverse communities living with, at-risk for or affected by HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. RHAC services are confidential and low cost or free, and are offered to those living with HIV/AIDS, their partners/family/friends, as well as those concerned about HIV/AIDS or at risk for HIV, and other organizations that provide services to people with, or at risk for, HIV. These include: testing and prevention programs, system navigation, referrals, counselling and peer to peer groups, and practical supports such as transportation, financial support and a food bank for those who need it. Last year, RHAC served nearly 1,000 people.
A Taste for Life first began in Ottawa in 1999 as a joint effort of Bruce House and the Snowy Owl AIDS Foundation (no longer in operation). The tradition now continues in communities across the country, as participating restaurants open their doors for one evening each April and donate 25 per cent of their evening sales to HIV/AIDS Service Organizations in their communities.
For more information, to see the list of participating restaurants or to make a donation, please visit the RHAC website.
A Taste of Life is proudly supported by TD Bank Group
