Please note! We have changed the date for EAT FOR A CAUSE to August 18 a t 6:00 pm. We hope we see you!! 

My foodie adventures have led Mr. foodie and me to all sorts of faces and places. And presently, we’re diving into a new (additional) path. A little background…something we’ve always enjoyed with our kidlets is “date night.” You know, Daddy/daughter; Mommy/son, Daddy/son, Mommy/daughter. And they see us go on dates once or twice a month. They also enjoy the “difference” it makes in our relationships. So my daughter and Mr. foodie were talking about their fun date nights and she mentioned her school should do a “date night” so that all her friends could come and the school would “raise money.” Thus, an idea was born.

So here we are, months and months later and we recently founded Dates Make A Difference. Quite simply, it’s a fundraising model for schools that incorporate chef-inspired culinary “date nights”, introducing the school’s students and their family members to chefs, food purveyors, growers while enjoying some family time. The school sells tickets to the event and a portion of the proceeds go to the schools AND the culinary artists that are providing the evening’s deliciousness. The students and their family member(s) walk away with wonderful memories and the knowledge that they’ve helped “make a difference” for themselves as well as a school project or need. The cool thing is, once the school jumps on board to have a DMD event, the students get to collaborate on the project…and it will always be something that will be of lasting impact to that school. As it turns out, policy is being created that’s eliminating certain fundraisers that many schools have relied on for years and years…bye-bye candies, cookies, brownies and other junk food. So we hope this becomes a viable alternative to the loss of those fundraisers.

Our kick-off event is called “Eat for a Cause.” It’s a five-course, farm-to-fork dinner on August 18 at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts in Winston-Salem. We’ve partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC’s Triad Community Kitchen, Executive Chef Jeff Bacon and four other top Triad chefs for a wonderful evening of dinnertainment…and the proceeds go to DMD and Triad Community Kitchen. The chefs who are collaborating with Chef Bacon are about as good as it gets:

Chef Tim Grandinetti, Spring House Restaurant, Kitchen & Bar
Chef Kevin Reddick, Artisan Restaurant
Chef Tim Thompson, Marisol Restaurant
Chef Chris Blackburn, Josephine’s Bistro/Lindley Park Filling Station

These chefs were hand selected for our first event because we know they have a passion for the community, local farms and well, they are awesome fun! At Eat for a Cause, you’ll see these chefs, chef-ing, learn more about them and we’ll be able to first-hand share our vision for Dates Make A Difference.

So what’s next? We need your help to get the word out! As readers of my blog , you have been VERY supportive…you subscribe, you LIKE, you share. I really appreciate that. Now we have an opportunity to do something really impactful. To help schools raise money, introduce their students and their families to local business owners who are contributing to the sustainability of our community and we ALL really are trying to MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

To learn more about Dates Make A Difference and our mission, click here! And click here to learn more about Eat for a Cause.

Read enough and you’re ready to RSVP to our event? Click here for tickets.

If you know of a school (public or private) that could use Dates Make A Difference, please let us know in the comments or email us at info@datesmakeadifference.com

As always, foodies! We appreciate your support.

Mark and Kristi