On Thursday, April 27, I volunteered at The Melting Pot in Wilmington for AIDS Delaware’s annual "Dining Out for Life" event, and I’m so glad I did. In case you’re not familiar with Dining Out for Life, participating restaurants donate one-third of the day’s total checks to AIDS Delaware. Throughout the tri-state area, restaurants showed their generous support for AIDS Delaware by participating in the event. This year, 23 northern Delaware restaurants participated, not to mention numerous restaurants in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. The event will be replicated in June at the Delaware beaches, so be on the look-out for flyers and other information.

During dinner hours at participating restaurants, volunteers greet patrons, thank them for supporting the event, offer AIDS ribbons and information about AIDS Delaware, ask patrons if they’d like to enter a free raffle, and inform them that they can make an additional donation if they would like to do so. You just can’t beat sitting down and stuffing your face to benefit a great cause. The more you spend, the more money goes to AIDS Delaware, so why not splurge on the bruschetta appetizer before the main course and crème brulle and cappuccino after? For years, I’ve eaten out on Dining Out for Life day, but this was my first year as a volunteer. When I walked up to greet my first table, I realized I had no speech prepared. My eyes glazed over for about three seconds and the diners probably wondered if I were some kind of starving madman coming to dip my fingers in their fondue. But then, my well-rehearsed public speaking skills kicked in and I recited the words I would repeat about thirty times that night:

"Hi. My name is Eric. I am here from Delaware Pride, representing AIDS Delaware tonight. Are you aware that tonight is Dining Out for Life? Thanks for coming out. One-third of your check tonight will go directly to AIDS Delaware. If I may, I’d like to leave a couple of things with you. First, this card tells you about our upcoming AIDS Walks in Georgetown, Dover, and Wilmington, in the fall. The other side of the card is about our Dining Out for Life event at the beach in June. And here is an envelope you can fill out to enter a raffle for a trip to the Bahamas. You can also make a donation to AIDS Delaware tonight by placing it in this envelope and leaving it on your table or giving it to me on your way out. You do not have to make a donation to enter the raffle. Thank you, and enjoy your dinner." WHEW!

After a full work day, the night was exhausting but very fun. The guests at almost every table I approached were friendly and some were even talkative. Many diners were not aware of Dining Out for Life but were thrilled to learn that they were making a contribution simply by eating a great meal. I really dreaded approaching one table composed of two very elderly heterosexual couples. "Grumpy old men," indeed, and the women didn’t look much more welcoming. Also, as awful as it sounds, I convinced myself that they were probably hard-of-hearing and I’d have to either repeat myself multiple times or raise my voice to an inappropriate level, garnering dirty looks from the romantic couples surrounding them on three sides. Instead, they all seemed to hear me just fine, even if they didn’t express enthusiasm. Then, before the elderly couples left, one of the gentlemen handed me a generous donation, thanked me for my work, and said how happy he was to be a part of the event. I felt egg on my face and warm fuzzies in my heart.

The restaurant’s manager and staff could not have been more gracious. I waited tables for years. I know that the smallest variance from the norm can really disrupt your routine, especially when you have someone besides yourself who must visit every table. I pictured myself tripping on and toppling over a champagne stand, dropping a donation envelope right into a bubbling bowl of cheesy fondue, or introducing myself just when a man had finally worked up enough nerve to blurt out a marriage proposal. (In which case, as pushy as I can be and as intent as I was on raking in maximum cash for the cause, I probably would have congratulated them and suggested that their wedding guests skip the ubiquitous blenders and toasters and make a contribution to AIDS Delaware in the name of the happy couple.) But alas, I caused no harm and no foul that night, and at the suggestion of the restaurant manager, I enjoyed a delicious complimentary dinner of smoky cheese fondue with assorted bread cubes, vegetables, and green apples for dipping. I was stuffed after this one course, but I still would have agreed to double the night’s donations for a trough of the white and dark chocolate yin-yang desert fondue.

Some diners came out specifically for the cause, including many GLBT persons. A few guests, gay and straight, told me stories about loved ones lost to AIDS, including a very young woman who told me that she lost her uncle and his partner to the disease. Stories like this reminded me how sad it is that we even have to have a Dining Out for Life event. What if the disease never even surfaced? What if, in its very early development, the disease made a self-destructive mutation and happily removed itself from existence? What if our government—and governments and health care leaders around the world—had shined a bright spotlight on HIV as soon as the first few cases were diagnosed, instead of dismissing it as just "the gay cancer?" Sadly, we’ll never know the answers to these questions, but I do know that the other night, at a restaurant in Wilmington, some caring people made a small but heartfelt contribution to the cause, and I was happy to be a witness and participant.