A new venue with dear friends, fantastic music, and our favorite desserts by Cheesecakes by Alex.  What more could we ask for at this year’s Dining for Friends Dessert Finale?  Supporters held 24 Dining for Friends parties in and around Greensboro and High Point.  Events included backyard BBQs, an Italian feast, birthday celebrations, a dramatic theater reading and a church fish fry, to name just a few.  Several of our longtime party supporters broke attendance and fundraising records this year, includingthe Replacements, Ltd. poolside cookout at Bob Page and Dale Frederiksen’s and Ribbons & Roses for THP in High Point, coordinated by Triad Health Project board members, Leigh Anne Kasias and John Aull.

The Dessert Finale and Dining for Friends Community Party joined forces once again, this time at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum on Elm Street.  The gathering had the theme of AIDS as a civil rights issue, a topic at the forefront of social policy now with access to healthcare in jeopardy in the face of proposed new healthcare legislation.  While guests came to Dining for Friends in a spirit of celebration, it was a reminder that HIV/AIDS care is prevention and is the way we end the epidemic.

Community Party goers were treated to a fabulous buffet dinner by Maria’s Gourmet Catering in the downstairs Changing Gallery. Guests of both events enjoyed the upstairs gathering space with music by area favorite, Low Key. A surprise dance flash mob by the amazingly talented dancers from Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet got folks out on the dance floor.  Thanks to photographer, Melody McBride, for her fantastic work in capturing memories of the event!  Check out Melody’s shots at our gallery of Dining for Friends photos.

THP extends our most heartfelt gratitude to Replacements, Ltd for their premier sponsorship of Dining for Friends 2017 and their continued commitment to ending HIV in our community through the work of THP.  And as they have for so many years, Cheesecakes by Alex made the evening sweet with plate full of delectable desserts.  Special thanks to our Community Party sponsors for taking a chance on a new location and providing an evening of celebration and renewed commitment to THP’s mission:

AIDS Healthcare Foundation
LeBauer Healthcare
Ranjan Sharma and Stacy Lawson
Well-Spring Retirement Community

Jerry and Lisa Elkins
Brad Johnson and Jason Robertson
Ron Johnson and Bill Roane

Allen Broach and Bob Weston
Forbis & Dick Funeral Homes
Susan and David Gutterman
Claire and Patrick Lanier
Paul Russ and Lynn Wooten
Dr. Jim Settle and David Cureton
Steve Stonecypher and Matthew Sergio
Bruce Thede and Johnny McGee

Nancy Vaughan
Brett Chapman
Evelyn Day
Chris Ellington
Eric Hiatt
Jeffrey E. Oleynik
David Curtis Smith
Jonathan Walker