A group of eight College of Business Administration students enrolled in the Cornerstone Course are presenting “Dining in the Dark” on November 4 to raise awareness of the daily challenges of living with blindness. Proceeds from the event will go to Lighthouse Central Florida, Orlando’s leading provider of vision rehabilitation services for adults, teens and children with low vision and blindness.
The event will be held at the Lighthouse headquarters at 215 East New Hampshire Street (near College Park). Approximately 40 guests will experience dining, drinking, listening to music, and social interaction in a whole new way: without the benefit of sight.
The evening of activities begins at 6:30 p.m. with a pre-party and appetizers on the patio. Then the guests will be escorted through a tunnel and into a completely darkened dining room, where they will be served a leisurely, three-course meal, including wine. Guiding them to their tables and waiting on them will be volunteers from the Orlando Police Department’s SWAT team outfitted in night-vision goggles.
“The UCF students have arranged this event without any assistance from us—other than providing the venue,” said Lee Nasehi, Lighthouse’s president and CEO. “We’re honored that they selected our organization for this service and learning project—and of course we are gratified that they’ll be raising much-needed funds for the critical services we provide.”
John Darnell, 20, one of eight students on the UCF project team, said Dining In The Dark was his group’s first choice for a service project. He said the team was further inspired after visiting Lighthouse and attempting simple tasks such as buttering bread or pouring water into a glass while wearing eye equipment to simulate blindness or low-vision.“That just kind of inspired all of us to do the best we could because we realized how tough these people have it and how much Lighthouse needs to raise money,” Darnell said.
Cost for the event is $25. For more information call Scott Harju at (407) 898-2483, ext. 42.