Andy Lien

We' ll each metformin 1000 mg buy be donning one of these aprons and slapping "I ATE" stickers on the folks who Dine Out and Fight AIDS at 128 Cafe in Saint Paul. "Hope" print by Amy Jo Hendrickson.

People have been asking me what I’m doing on my birthday this year.  I will tell you.  And, I will invite you to join me.  Right here, right now.

I am going to be an Ambassador for the Aliveness Project‘s Dining Out For Life event at 128 Cafe.  Join me for dinner on my birthday, Thursday, April 29, 2010.

Hwa?

I know.  It’s a mouthful.  If you’re not familiar with the Aliveness Project or Dining Out For Life, you certainly wouldn’t know what I’d be doing as an Ambassador.   Then, throw in a location with a number in its name and the world goes a little sideways.  Let me back up and start again.

The Aliveness Project is a nonprofit organization in Minneapolis that serves people living with HIV/AIDS.  It’s able to provide on-site meals, food shelf, holiday baskets, and integrative therapies to nearly 1,600 people in Minnesota.  It’s been around since 1985 and it is an organization that has proved its mettle.

It just so happens that my friend Eric is a volunteer for the Aliveness Project and he mentioned being an Ambassador for this annual event.  I lauded him and told him how wonderful he is for doing it.  And then he asked me if I would be interested in volunteering with him.  On my birthday.  Hmm.  I didn’t have any plans, yet.  Add a good cause to a great restaurant and throw in a stellar friend and I was thrilled to throw my services into the pot and stir.

Our role as Ambassadors is a very important one.  More important than I was anticipating.  As a former fundraiser for orphans, I can appreciate how vital it is to run a good fundraising program on the back end, from the materials to the event to the volunteers.  And, as a person who’s pulled out many hairs while coordinating special events, I can tell you that the portion of the program that is the hardest control always involves volunteers.  Volunteers have hearts of gold, but are as easy to herd as cats.  So, in order to ensure that all 500+ volunteers for Dining Out For Life are on the same page, we were asked to attend training sessions at The Aliveness Project.

Good call, Aliveness Project.  Good call.

After loading up on coffee at Spyhouse, Eric and I hauled our cookies to a training session last Saturday morning.  We received our materials and plenty of background information about the mission and future of Aliveness in the Twin Cities.  As it turns out, they’ve outgrown their current location and the program is moving to a new building in South Minneapolis to better serve their community.  Being in their space and experiencing their organization first-hand made me all the more excited to help them out on April 29.  And, as part of our training, we got to do some role-playing so that we know what to say to folks who choose to dine in our restaurant the evening of the event.  I never would’ve guessed it, but I need to be more aggressive in my fundraising.

You know me.  I’m a shrinking violet, usually.  Right.  Well, I guess I get a little anxious about the “asks,” so this training helped quite a bit.

Here’s the evidence of my training and role-playing rehearsal:

WHEN (not if) I see you on April 29 at 128 Cafe, I will welcome you to the Dining Out For Life event which benefits the Aliveness Project.  I will ask you if you’ve heard of the organization and give you a quick synopsis if you are not–in fact–actually reading this post and retaining what I’ve told you.  Then, I will tell you that our chosen restaurant, 128 Cafe, is donating 35% of your dinner bill to the Aliveness Project so that our hosts can receive all the kudos and goodwill that they deserve for being so generous.  After that, I’ll raise a carrot in front of you by mentioning a drawing for prizes.  You will become eligible to win the prizes by filling out a donation envelope.  WHEN (not if) you fill it out and WHEN (not if) you enclose a contribution to the Aliveness Project in the envelope, you will then give it back to me or leave it with your server to give to us so that you’re good to go for the drawing on May 7.  Believe it or not, this whole paragraph will take approximately 30 seconds to complete and I’ll ask if you have any questions before giving you a red sticker that says “I ATE” on it so you can wear it proudly for the remainder of the evening as if it were election day and you’d voted.

See?  EASY.  It’s all about the WHEN and not the IF.

Not to be a jerk about it, but I’ll bluntly say that the host restaurants are doing all the heavy lifting for the fundraising event.  They’re the ones donating from their profits for the evening.  You’re eating out and paying your bill.  Sure, you might not usually dine out on a Thursday ON MY BIRTHDAY, but since you are and you’re not pulling a dine ‘n’ dash, you’ve got it easy.  Do the right thing and make a contribution to the Aliveness Project when I give you the envelope.  Tell me that my role-playing paid off.  Make us all feel a little bit better about ourselves.

Take a look at the menu at 128 Cafe.  It was our first choice for where we wanted to be Ambassadors.  It’s small.  It’s wonderful.  It may be closer to St. Thomas than Macalester, but we’ll forgive it.  We always do.  Make your reservation and please mention Dining Out For Life when you do.

I’ll see you on Thursday.  Please don’t bring any presents…not for my birthday, at any rate.