MABEL SUEN
5800 is one of several St. Louis area restaurants participating in Dining Out For Life on April 29.
For 25 years, Dining Out For Life has provided vital assistance to organizations dedicated to helping people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. This year, the event will add an additional focus: Helping the restaurant community that has supported its efforts throughout the years.
The recently-announced 2021 Dining Out For Life festivities will happen on April 29, with over 75 area restaurants participating. However, unlike in years past, St. Louis restaurants will be keeping the customary 25 percent of sales they would typically donate, a move made by St. Louis' event organizers to recognize the hardships that restaurants have endured over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vivent Health, the local organization that typically receives proceeds from St. Louis' Dining Out for Life event, made the statement on the event's website, asking guests to think of this year's Dining Out For Life as a way to pay forward the restaurants' support over the years and to ensure the industry is positioned to lend its hand again in the future. Diners are still encouraged to patronize participating business, whether in person or carried out, on the 29th, to both support the restaurants and raise awareness for Dining Out For Life.
In lieu of restaurant donations, Vivent encourages anyone with the means to donate directly to their organization, noting the loss of revenue from this year's Dining Out For Life. Instructions on how to do that, as well as a list of participating restaurants, can be found on the St. Louis event's website at www.diningoutforlife/city/stl.
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