Dine With Heart In May
During the month of May in Melbourne, Sacred Heart Mission celebrate Dine with Heart. From the 1st to 31st of May, people dining in Melbourne are being encouraged to dine out with heart so people in need can have a meal too.
Dine with Heart month combines good food and a great cause. It’s about raising funds for Sacred Heart Mission’s meals program that serves 400 free and nutritious meals a day from its St Kilda dining hall to people who are homeless and disadvantaged.
The event started in 2014 with some of Melbourne’s top chefs, led by European’s Ian Curley. They prepared a three-course dinner for 200 guests who dined onstage at St Kilda’s iconic Palais Theatre.
For 2015, the Dine with Heart event has grown into a charity fundraiser month. Along with the formal dinner, restaurants and cafes across the City of Port Phillip will hold special events to encourage their customers to dine with heart too. With every $4 raised, it will pay for a healthy meal for someone who otherwise couldn’t afford it. The Sacred Heart Mission has a goal to raise $75,000 to keep the Mission’s meals program running.
The participating restaurants will be encouraging their customers to leave a tax-deductible $4 donation at the end of their meal. There are some great local restaurants that are jumping on board: Beachcomber, Bella Cosi, Big Mouth, Dr Jekyll, Donovans, Fitzrovia, I Carusi II, L’Altro Mondo, Luxembourg, Miss Fitzy’s, Mr Wolf, Grill 3182 @ Novotel, Olive Garden Café Bar and Grill, Phamish, Radio Mexico, Republica, Sorsi e Morsi and St Hotel.
On the 26th of May, there is also The Dine with Heart dinner that is a formal event held on the stage of the iconic Palais Theatre in St Kilda. The dinner will be catered by an ensemble of Melbourne’s leading chefs. You can head on over to Sacred Heart Mission fundraising event to see a list of some of these fantastic chefs and to book some tickets to enjoy an evening full of delicious food and live music. You will also have the chance to chat with chefs between courses, and there is a fantastic food-lovers raffle, plus auctions packed with unique experiences.
Some of the chefs were asked some questions and one of them was why they were participating in the fundraising event, Dine with Heart month. Here is what 3 chefs had to say:
Jesse Gerner (Bomba): “It’s a great opportunity to give back. Especially to Sacred Heart Mission, who do such amazing work. Feeding people who’ve fallen on hard times seems like such a simple thing, but in reality it’s hard work, budgeting, planning and being able to manage it all.”
Chris Watson (Luxembourg): “I participated in the first Dine with Heart event last year and loved it. It was a really successful night and a great way to raise money for such an important cause. I’m looking forward to seeing that happen on an even a bigger scale this year. As a local business owner, it’s a really good way to be giving back to the community and this is a great way to do that. I have lived around here locally and so it’s nice to get involved in something in your community. I actually moved here from NSW and got a place in Grey St, right opposite the mission without ever really knowing about it. It’s always such a hive of activity and has a real buzz to it, it’s nice to be a part of supporting that.”
Philippa Sibley (Albert St Food & Wine): “I really enjoy helping out with great causes and giving back to the community. I have lived in St Kilda for most of my adult life so the Dine with Heart month was an amazing opportunity to help out and give back to my community. I also enjoy the comradery of working with other chefs and we will get that opportunity with the Dine with Heart dinner, it’s a lovely feeling.”
So if you are going to head on out for dinner in the month of May, remember to stop by a participating restaurant because you will be helping out such a great cause, Dine with Heart in May!
Share your Dine with Heart experience #DwHeart
*Disclosure: This post was not funded. I am helping to share some information about this great fundraising event.
