Fourteen local restaurants are coming together on Tuesday, January 10th from 5-10pm to give back to the community and donate money to two good organizations. The restaurants will give 10% of their proceeds for the evening to Powell Elementary School and Celebrate Petworth. It's a great opportunity to try a new local restaurant or visit a favorite.

According to Paul Ruppert, owner of Slim’s Diner, the idea for the evening started out as a discussion among restaurant owners looking for a way to mark the significance of the opening of so many new restaurants in Petworth. “We decided to make it a fundraising effort,” Paul said, “because restaurants are frequently at the forefront of raising money for important organizations.”

*A mock-up of the shirts that staff will wear on Jan 10th*

“We wanted to pick organizations that have deep connections to the Petworth community,” Paul said. “Powell Elementary and Celebrate Petworth stood out, as many of our customers send their kids to Powell and we all enjoy the Celebrate Petworth Festival as a great way to kick off the summer here in Petworth.”

Staff at each participating restaurant will be wearing a special t-shirt designed by Carlie Steiner, co-owner of Himitsu. The idea for the shirts came from Nic Makris at Homestead, who wanted to make something to mark the strong collection of Petworth restaurants. Nick Pimentel, Nic Makris and Paul Ruppert met to take the shirt idea and expand it into a neighborhood-wide charity effort.

Kudos to each of the restaurants participating, it's such a great and easy way to give back to the community. Here's hoping this becomes an annual tradition!

You can sign up on the "Dining Out for Charity" Facebook event page, or just show up at one of the awesome participating restaurants.

If you want to get your own Explore Petworth shirt, they’ll be on sale at Slim’s Diner that night (Tuesday, January 10th) for $15.