Spring in their step

TWO of WA Business News’ 2011 40under40 award winners have teamed up to extend fundraising organisation Dine for Life’s Spring Dinner into regional Western Australia.

Dine for Life, which was set up by Natasha Di Ciano last year, runs dinner events at restaurants across Perth with the support of suppliers and restaurant owners to raise funds for chosen charities.

While the past two events have been run in Perth and involved restaurants including Divido in Mount Hawthorn, this time around, in October, 40under40 winner and owner of Gnarabar in Margaret River, Anthony Janssen, has signed on to run a simultaneous dinner in the South West to raise funds for ‘Power a Pensioner’, an initiative of the group People Who Care.

“The sentiment effectively is a celebration of life through good food and wine, in order to raise awareness and much-needed funds for causes in our community. Our participation has a personal twist for me, as my grandfather recently lost his battle with motor neurone disease. I just think it’s great to be able to do so much good through doing what we love the most,” Mr Janssen said.

Ms Di Ciano said Dine for Life was about giving back and making a difference to the communities in which we live. 

“I knew that if we could promote this message to other restaurateurs and business owners in the region then we would secure their participation,” she said.