Francis House fundraiser seeks dinner hosts

Dinner parties are a great way to entertain friends, dish some great gossip and now, it's the perfect way to raise money for charity.

The Francis House is asking volunteers to host dinner parties on June 4 as a way to raise funds for an expansion project at the HIV/AIDS services organization. Go Eat Tampa Bay is a resurrection of sorts of the popular Stix of Fire fundraiser that used to benefit the Tampa AIDS Network.

â┚¬Å”It was probably TAN's main fundraiser,â┚¬Â said Joy Winheim, executive director of Francis House. â┚¬Å”We're kind of running with that idea. We recruit dinner hosts to have a dinner at the home. They encourage people to donate money and then we meet for a dessert reception at the Glazier Children's Museum later that night.â┚¬Â

Francis House provides everything the dinner host needsâ┚¬â€except for the actual food and drinks. Invitations, brochures, stickers and contribution envelopes are available for hosts to make fundraising as easy as possible.

â┚¬Å”Hosts can be as elaborate or as simple as they'd like,â┚¬Â Winheim explained. â┚¬Å”You can have a Mexican fiesta and charge $10 at the door or serve Filet Mignon and ask your friends for $50. I even have one host meeting with friends at Burger King and asking them to bring cash for the donation envelopes.â┚¬Â

Winheim would like to see at least 100-150 hosts participate this year and she's asking each to shoot for a goal of $250. The money raised will go toward adding a Carlos Alvarez Annex to the existing Francis House structure, which is packed with workers, clients and volunteers.

Right now, Winheim has about 20 hosts ready to serve meals and they are located throughout the country.

â┚¬Å”I have family up north hosting dinners and they're going to mail the contributions,â┚¬Â she said. â┚¬Å”I understand that June 4 is during Gay Days Weekend. So if anyone wants to hold their dinners before or after that, we're fine with that. It's about raising money and having fun.â┚¬Â

The Francis House began 21 years ago and provides several programs to assist those dealing with HIV/AIDS. Everything from a food pantry to mental health counseling is provided by Francis House and the addition of a new annex would pave the way for more grant opportunities.

â┚¬Å”We're doing this fundraiser because we are in desperate need of extending our space,â┚¬Â Winheim said. â┚¬Å”We're trying to raise the money and build the Annex so our mental health counseling can use that space.â┚¬Â

That will, in turn, free up space in the existing building and allow for more programs, Winheim said.

â┚¬Å”Right now we can't go anywhere with more staff,â┚¬Â she said. â┚¬Å”We have 5,000-square-feet now. We have a freezer in a case manager's office, three guys in one room sharing cubical space and boxes stored in a shower stall. We're completely out of room.â┚¬Â

That is both good and bad news. When Winheim took the position of executive director five years ago, the Francis House only served a handful of clientsâ┚¬â€less than 20. Today Francis House has a client base of â┚¬Å”well over 500.â┚¬Â

To sign up to be a host for Go Eat Tampa Bay, contact director of client services, Vicky Fortugno-Oliver, at Vicky@FrancisHouse.org or call her at 813-237-3066. For more information, search for Go Eat Tampa Bay on Facebook or visit FrancisHouse.org.