Dinner in the Dark

Guests enjoy a meal wearing sleep masks, served by trained volunteers, and learn what life without sight is like.

What it is

Guests buy tickets to a seated dinner. At the start of the meal they put on sleep masks or blindfolds and eat the whole meal without sight, helped by sighted servers and guides your club has trained. Blind or visually impaired speakers share their own experience, and at the end the masks come off for a short talk about daily life without sight and the local groups that help. Ticket sales, table sponsors and donations go to your club's causes.

Typical net: $2,000 to $10,000 (rough estimate only. Table sponsors and a donated or discounted meal make the biggest difference.)

Step by step

4 months out

Pick a date and a backup date
Choose your cause and set a money goal
Name a chair and a safety lead
Make a first list of venues with a kitchen or a caterer

3 months out

Book the venue: flat floors, no steps between tables, wide aisles, a lit exit path
Ask the venue or caterer about the health department and food handler rules
Get a certificate of insurance, or check your club's liability coverage
Contact a local organization for blind or visually impaired people and ask them to partner
Invite blind or visually impaired speakers (and servers, if they would like to)
Set ticket price, table price and sponsor levels

2 months out

Plan the menu with the caterer: finger-friendly, no bones, no soup or hot liquids
Open ticket sales and table sponsorships
Recruit sighted servers (about one for every 8 guests), guides, greeters and kitchen help
Order sleep masks or blindfolds, plus 10% spare

6 weeks out

Send the news release and flyers
Ask guests for allergies and dietary needs when they buy
Write the run of show, minute by minute
Write the guest briefing script

4 weeks out

Hold server and guide training with your partner organization
Draw the table map and the walking paths
Plan the reveal and the education moment

2 weeks out

Confirm the speakers and the partner organization
Give the caterer the dietary and allergy list
Seat guests by table
Practice the walk from the door to the tables with masks on

1 week out

Give the final head count to the caterer
Confirm every volunteer and their job
Print the seating list, server menu cards and run of show
Check the first-aid kit and the supply count

Day before

Walk the room with the safety lead: clear paths, exit lit, no candles
Set tables the same way at every seat
Pack masks, wipes, name cards and the cash box

Day of

Volunteers arrive 2 hours early for a final run-through
Greeters at the door, guests checked in and seated
Briefing, masks on, dinner served course by course
Reveal, speaker and thank-yous
Count money with two people

After the dinner

Send thank-yous to sponsors, speakers, the partner organization and volunteers
Share what you raised and a few photos (with permission)
Meet to write down what to change next time

Tips that work

Partner with a local organization for blind or visually impaired people from the start. They are the experts, and their members make the evening real.
Talk about learning, not pity: "learn about life without sight," not "see what it's like to suffer."
Keep every plate the same and describe it by the clock face: "Your chicken is at 6 o'clock."
Seat guests before masks go on, and never move tables or chairs once the dinner starts.
Tell guests more than once that they can take the mask off at any time.
Plan about one sighted server for every 8 guests, and keep the same server at a table all night.
Save time at the end for questions. Guests always have more than you expect.

Partnering with the blind and visually impaired community

Call a local organization that serves blind or visually impaired people (a state agency, a guide dog group, a center for the blind, a school, or a support group) 3 months ahead. Ask them to be a partner, not just a name on the flyer.
Invite one or two blind or visually impaired speakers. Ask what they would like to talk about, offer a speaker gift or a donation to their group, and arrange their ride.
Ask whether any of their members would like to serve or guide. Many blind people are very good at this, and guests learn a lot from them.
Ask the partner to review your briefing script, flyer and words. Use the words they prefer.
Respect matters: the goal is to learn about life without sight and the skills people use every day. Avoid words like "suffer" or "victim," and do not treat blindness as a game.
If your club already does sight work (for example, Lions clubs often support eye health and vision programs), say so, but the evening is about the guests learning, not about your club.

Menu design

Finger-friendly food: bite-size pieces that can be eaten with fingers or a fork.
No bones, shells, pits, toothpicks or skewers.
No soup, no hot coffee or tea at the table, and nothing that spills. Serve drinks in sturdy cups with lids or low tumblers, filled two-thirds.
Every plate looks the same and is set the same way, so servers can describe it the same way.
Collect allergies and dietary needs when tickets are sold. Give the kitchen a list by table, and mark special plates with a colored sticker under the rim.
Keep the courses simple: a starter, a main, and a dessert is plenty. Write down each course with its clock-face description on the Menu tab.
A fun idea: keep the menu a surprise and let guests guess what they ate before the reveal. Check allergies first.

Safety

The safety lead walks the room before guests arrive and has the final say about anything unsafe.
Clear, wide paths between tables. Tape down cords. No bags or chairs in the aisles.
The exit path and exit signs stay lit at all times, even when the room is dim.
Opt-out: every guest can take the mask off at any time, for any reason. Say it in the briefing, and again halfway through.
No candles or open flames anywhere.
Keep a first-aid kit and flashlights with the safety lead. Know where the nearest AED is.
Guests never walk alone with masks on. A guide walks them to the restroom and back.
Hot food is carried by servers only, and never over a guest's head.

Server and guide training

Hold one training session about 4 weeks out, ideally led by your partner organization. Plan about 90 minutes.
Speak first, then touch: say your name before you set anything down. "Hi, it's Pat, I'm putting your plate in front of you."
Describe the plate by the clock face: "Chicken at 6 o'clock, rice at 10, green beans at 2." The guest's side of the plate is 6 o'clock.
Say where things are on the table the same way: "Your water is at 1 o'clock, just above your plate."
Guide arm: offer your elbow; the guest holds just above it and walks half a step behind you. Say "step" or "turning left" before it happens.
Never grab or push a guest. Ask "May I help?" first.
Stay with the same table all evening, and check on each guest quietly between courses.
Practice: every server and guide eats a few bites with a mask on during training.

Table setup

Round tables of 6 to 8, each with a large-print table number (and braille if your partner can make it).
Set every place the same way: napkin on the left, fork on the left, cup at 1 o'clock, bread plate at 11 o'clock.
No glass candles, centerpieces, vases or loose decorations on the table.
Wet wipes and extra napkins in the middle of each table.
Leave a gap between chair backs so servers can reach every guest without leaning over anyone.
Put a name card at each seat so a guest can be found quickly.

Guest briefing script

Read this out loud once everyone is seated, before masks go on. Change the words in [brackets].
"Good evening, and welcome to Dinner in the Dark. Tonight you will enjoy your meal the way many people in our community do every day: without sight."
"In a moment you will put on your mask. Your server tonight will stay with your table all evening. They will tell you their name before they set anything down, and describe your plate like a clock. 6 o'clock is the part closest to you."
"Your cup is at 1 o'clock, just above your plate. Please stay seated. If you need to get up, raise your hand and a guide will walk with you."
"You may take your mask off at any time, for any reason. Nobody will mind. If you take it off, just stay seated and enjoy the rest of the evening."
"At the end of the meal we will take our masks off together, and [speaker] will share what daily life without sight is really like."
"Ready? Please put your masks on now."

Run of show (sample, minute by minute)

Change the times to fit your evening. The Run of show tab can fill these in for you, then you edit them.
4:00 PM: Volunteers arrive. Safety lead walks the room. Final run-through with servers and guides.
5:15 PM: Kitchen ready. Servers at their tables.
5:30 PM: Doors open. Greeters check guests in and hand out masks. Guides seat guests.
6:00 PM: Welcome from the chair (2 minutes).
6:02 PM: Guest briefing (5 minutes).
6:07 PM: Masks on.
6:10 PM: Starter served and described.
6:30 PM: Main course served and described.
6:45 PM: Halfway check-in: "You can take your mask off any time."
7:05 PM: Dessert served and described.
7:20 PM: Guests guess what they ate (optional).
7:25 PM: The reveal: masks off together.
7:30 PM: Speaker and questions (15 to 20 minutes).
7:50 PM: Thank-yous: sponsors, partner, volunteers, kitchen. Share the money goal.
8:00 PM: Guests leave. Guides help anyone who needs it. Clean-up starts.

The reveal and education moment

Ask everyone to take off their masks together, slowly, and give eyes a moment to adjust. Keep the lights low at first.
Show the plates and the menu, and let guests compare their guesses.
Invite your speaker to share their daily life: work, cooking, getting around, technology, and what they wish sighted people knew.
Leave time for questions from the tables.
Share how people can help: your cause, your partner organization, and simple things like how to offer a guide arm.
Hand out a card or sheet from your partner organization, if they have one.

Ticket pricing, sponsor levels and a sample budget

Price tickets to cover the meal plus a gift: if the plate costs $20, $50 to $75 a ticket is common. Offer a table of 8 at a small discount.
Sample sponsor levels: Table sponsor $250 (name on the table and in the program); Course sponsor $500 (named at each course); Evening sponsor $1,000 (named in the welcome and on all printouts). Add them on the Sponsors tab.
Sample budget for 80 guests at $60: tickets $4,800; 4 table sponsors $1,000; 1 evening sponsor $1,000; table donations $400. Money in: $7,200.
Costs: caterer 80 × $20 = $1,600; venue $300; sleep masks 90 × $2 = $180; printing $120; speaker gifts $100; insurance or permit $150. Money out: $2,450.
Net for your cause: about $4,750. Your numbers will differ; the Budget tab adds up the real ones.

Cleanup and thank-yous

Clean-up crew stacks chairs and clears aisles after guests leave, not before.
Collect masks. Wash reusable ones, or give them to guests as a reminder.
Count money with two people and fill out the deposit for your treasurer.
Within a week: thank-you notes or calls to sponsors, the venue, the caterer, the partner organization, speakers and every volunteer.
Send the partner organization a note about what you raised and, if part of it goes to them, when.
Share the results with your club and in your newsletter, with photos only if people said yes.
Meet within two weeks to write down what to keep and what to change.

Volunteer jobs

Event chair: Leads planning and is the go-to person on the night
Safety lead: Owns the room layout, the clear paths, the lit exit and the first-aid kit; can stop the dinner if needed
Sighted servers (1 for every 8 guests): Serve each table, describe each plate by the clock face, and stay with their table all evening
Guides: Walk guests from the door to their seat and to the restroom, using a guide arm
Greeters: Welcome guests, check them in, and hand out masks and name cards
Briefing host: Reads the guest briefing script and keeps the evening on time
Speaker: A blind or visually impaired person who shares their own experience
Kitchen crew: Plates every course the same way and keeps hot food away from the aisles
Treasurer: Handles ticket money, sponsor payments and the cash box

Supplies

Sleep masks or blindfolds for every guest, plus 10% spare
Wet wipes and extra napkins at every table
Sturdy cups with lids or low tumblers (not stemmed glasses)
Plates with a rim or divided plates
Table cards with table numbers in large print and braille if your partner can help
First-aid kit
Flashlights for the safety lead and guides
Seating list and dietary list
Server menu cards with clock-face descriptions
Cash box, receipt book and ticket list
Microphone and speaker

Permits and insurance

Ask your city or county health department whether you need a temporary food permit. A licensed caterer or the venue's kitchen usually covers this.
Have at least one volunteer with a food handler card if your area asks for one.
Get a certificate of insurance from the venue, or ask your club's regional or national organization if your club's liability policy covers this event.
Tell the venue you will dim the lights: keep exit signs and the exit path lit at all times.
No candles or open flames anywhere in the room.
Collect allergy and dietary needs ahead of time, and label every dish for the kitchen and servers.

General tips, not legal advice. Check with your city, county, and state.

Getting the word out

Ask your partner organization to share it with their members
Personal invitations to business owners for table sponsorships
Flyers at libraries, churches, eye doctors and the senior center
A short interview on local radio or in the paper with a blind speaker
Post a photo of last year's reveal (with permission)

Sample announcement

Can you enjoy a meal without sight? Join the [Club name] for Dinner in the Dark on [date] at [place], [time]. Guests dine wearing sleep masks, served by trained volunteers, and hear from [speaker] about daily life without sight. Tickets $[price], tables of 8 $[table price]. Proceeds support [cause]. Tickets from [name] at [phone]. Please tell us about allergies when you buy.

On the day

Room walked by the safety lead: clear paths, lit exit, no candles
Every table set the same way
First-aid kit and flashlights in place
Guests checked in and seated before masks go on
Briefing read, including how to take the mask off
Servers stay with their tables the whole meal
Reveal and speaker on time
Count money with two people
Thank-you list started before you leave