Thursday, April 25, not only will Adams Avenue Grill be serving up great food, it will do so with outsize servings of commitment and compassion.
That is the day of San Diego’s seventh annual Dining Out for Life event, and Adams Avenue Grill has been there from the beginning. Dining Out for Life benefits HIV/AIDS services and prevention programs at The San Diego LGBT Community Center.
Local restaurants, bars and coffee shops – this year more than 100 of them – agree to donate a minimum of 25 percent of their day’s food and liquor sales to support this effort. Last year, Adams Avenue Grill raised the bar, donating 50 percent of its sales on the day of the event, but also extending that offer from Thursday through Saturday.
Elaine Graybill is the Dining Out for Life ambassador for Adams Avenue Grill, and while the event boasts some incredible and dedicated volunteers, Graybill brings her own special touch and enthusiasm to the cause.
“I enjoy helping to fill up the restaurants,” Graybill said, who has volunteered every year for Dining Out for Life. She will be serving as ambassador for both lunch and dinner at Adams Avenue April 25. She loves the restaurant and is deeply impressed with the owner/chef Tim Klepeis’ generosity and willingness to donate all weekend. “You want to make sure they are full so we can raise as much money as possible.”
So how did this straight, Southern woman get to be such a passionate advocate for those impacted by HIV?
She explained that her friend, Maureen Steiner, first got her involved with the San Diego Democratic Club (now Democrats for Equality), and since she started, she hasn’t stopped. She’s volunteered for everything from LGBT softball clubs to San Diego LGBT Pride.
“Once you start volunteering, it cascades into further involvement because it is easy and fun and it is a way to help,” she said. “As a Southerner who grew up in the civil rights movement, the struggle for LGBT equality is a natural fit for me.
“I really enjoy volunteering with The Center. The organization and its services have grown so much. It really is the LGBT home of San Diego and it is a place where everyone can always feel safe,” Graybill continued. “The programs and services are amazing, so the funds we raise for The Center help support those programs. The Center is a very special place where people can come together if they need help or just need to gather. Anything I can do to further the work of The Center, I’ll do it.”
Adams Avenue Grill owner and chef, Tim Klepeis shares Graybill’s dedication to the cause, and to The Center.
“We’ve been involved right from the beginning,” Klepeis said. “The Center focuses on inclusion and I love that. The results have been amazing; not only in our community, but in building a more inclusive community.”
And Klepeis has personal reasons for his commitment as well.
“My friend, Larry, has been HIV-positive for more than 20 years,” Klepeis said. “I met him shortly after he was diagnosed, and we’ve been best friends for more than 20 years. At the beginning, he was told he would have maybe seven years to live.”
At the time, there was a great deal of fear and despair associated with testing positive for HIV. Klepeis said he remembers Larry giving him power of attorney for his health care matters, and he “had an issue with it. I didn’t feel like I knew enough to make any medical decisions.” So, they teamed up to volunteer to deliver meals for Mama’s Kitchen. “I thought it would help me learn more and that I’d then be able to make better decisions if I needed to,” Klepeis said.
Then, hope came in the form of HIV treatment advancements, and today Larry is one of Klepeis’ biggest supporters. An architect by trade, he helped design the interior of the restaurant, and continues to help beautify it with weekly floral arrangements and other design touches.
“I know he thinks of me when he gets involved with Dining Out for Life,” Larry said of his friend. “He has been there for me by taking time to go on my quarterly checkups and getting me through some really low emotional times and health issues. Likewise, I am there to support him. I have helped him since day one of opening Adams Avenue Grill, creating the interior design and being his number one promoter.”
And on the day (or in the case of Adams Avenue Grill, days), of Dining Out for Life, Klepeis said the atmosphere in his place is filled with “an amazing, enlightened feeling.”
“There’s a cross section who are there for Dining Out and people who are just coming in as regular customers. When they are given the explanation as to what Dining Out for Life is about – from whatever walk (of life) they come from – they get to participate in a comfortable way,” he said. “There are folks who come in who may not have a lot of exposure to HIV-positive people or to The Center. On that day, when they step out of their comfort zones and you see them contribute, that’s the magic.”
Make your reservations for Thursday, April 25 (or for the following Friday or Saturday) today and tell them you’ll be there for Dining Out for Life. Just call Adams Avenue Grill at 619-298-8440 and for more info, visit adamsavenuegrille.com or thecentersd.org
