THUNDER BAY – A one of its kind dining experience is coming back next month.
The fifth annual Dining in the Dark event, a fundraiser for the local chapter of the CNIB, is set for Oct. 19 at The Chanterelle on Park.
Participants are treated to a gourmet three-course dinner, but have to be blindfolded as they experience the meal.
“It’s a lot of fun and it’s something that most people have not experienced,” CNIB community giving coordinator Kelly Rooney said.
“There are not very many times in your life when you’ll sit down and enjoy a meal completely taking away the sense of sight and it really is memorable to have that experience.”
Rooney said it’s common for the organization to hold fundraising events that incorporate blindfolds or other ways to deprive vision.
“It’s a way of raising awareness of what it’s like to do everyday tasks without the benefit of sight,” Rooney said.
The event raised nearly $9,000 last year, Rooney said, adding organizers hope to eclipse that number this year with a larger venue being able to host more people.
Kai Crites, a CNIB client who also works as an ambassador for the organization, said the money raised helps support much-needed new technology, peer support and advocacy programming.
“Technology has given people with vision loss something that hasn’t previously been available. Artificial intelligence that can read through algorithm’s what somebody’s face is showing, whether it’s smiling or frowning,” Crites said.
“It can guestimate an age of a person, see if your friend is in the room. New technology has GPS apps for the blind that are available on smartphones to help people independently navigate.”
Those kind of advancements can open up the world, Crites added.
“It really gets people independent and included in the community, breaking free of isolation and stuff that’s been a problem definitely for people with vision loss for a long time,” Crites said.
Tickets are available for $100 each and can be purchased either individually or for a full table of eight.
