SAN FRANCISCO - More than 30 restaurants are participating in Tuesday's ‘Dining Out for Life’ event in conjunction with San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF). Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from each restaurant bill will go towards promoting health and wellness and will be donated to the organization.
The event is held in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Organizers say the event draws more than 10,000 businesses each year.
Since 1982, SFAF has promoted social justice for communities most impacted by HIV. This is the 23rd year of the dining-event benefit.
"San Francisco AIDS Foundation provides many critical health and wellness services for communities across San Francisco," said SFAF CEO Dr. Tyler TerMeer. "In addition to the HIV and AIDS services and support we are best known for, we provide gender-affirming care and support for transgender and non-binary communities, substance use counseling and overdose prevention, hepatitis C wellness and cure, and we are one of the leading harm reduction service agencies in the city."
SFAF provides sexual health services, including PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), an effective medication used to prevent HIV infection. California Department of Public Health says PrEP is for individuals who do not have HIV. You can check their website for the differentiation on PrEP, PrEP 2-1-1 and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis).
Earlier this month, State Sen. Scott Wiener posted to social media to say that Senate Bill 339, which expands access to the daily pill and "all but eliminates HIV risk" advanced in its first committee with a bipartisan vote. He says the bill that he sponsors authorizes pharmacists to provide the daily medication without a physician's prescription.
SFAF also provides substance use services, including harm reduction and overdose prevention resources.
The benefit is twofold as it seeks to not only combat the disease through fundraising, but also helps support local participating restaurants. The restaurant industry has struggled to rebound from the years-long pandemic that kept diners away due to health guidance restrictions on indoor dining.
One of the participants, Casements Bar in San Francisco's Mission, said they have had a close relationship with this benefit since the restaurant opened just six weeks before COVID.
Gillian Fitzgerald, owner and operator of Casements Bar, said she had previous experience from other restaurants she's worked with on this "incredible cause."
"People from all walks of life have HIV/AIDS. I'm very proud to work with them. We're quite young in our late 30s. Our community wasn't plagued with what our elders had to go through," she says.
She says to this day, it's important to destigmatize people living with HIV/AIDS and that people can live healthily with it under proper medical care.
She says DJ Rolo is on the decks from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the patio. "Mussels are popular in the sunshine, fish and chips are caught fresh daily." She also mentions Irish curry, beef stew, and her grandmother's soda bread will be on hand. "Hearty, warm food. It's about breaking bread and supporting a good cause on a Tuesday."
Some of the other participants included are LGBTQ,POC, and women-owned eateries. Azúcar Lounge, Mission Bowling Club, and Fluid Cooperative Café are among some of the delectable participants.
Azúcar Lounge identifies as Latinx and LGBTQ-owned.
"Personally, supporting the AIDS foundation has been important for me (even before the days of Azúcar) as I've had many friends and family members contract AIDS with many of them losing their lives in the early days of the AIDS epidemic," said Jonathan Ojinaga owner Azúcar. He says the restaurant has been partnering with SFAF for a number of years. "I grew up in a small, conservative town in New Mexico, one of my older cousins, who I looked up to, moved away to Los Angeles and ended up contracting AIDS during the early days of the epidemic. I contribute to the cause as a way of remembering him."
He says he's noticed people don't go out to restaurants the way they used to. "We've been struggling during this upside-down time with many vacancies in the neighborhood's residential buildings. Many of the offices in the neighborhood are still being underutilized with many workers working from home."
For a complete list of participating restaurants, click here.