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You're seated at a table, waiting patiently. Just before your dinner is served, the lights go out and the room fades into complete darkness. A plate of hot food is placed in front of you by someone you can’t see. Do you remember where your fork is?
Thousands of people across the country have experienced this moment at one of the Foundation’s many Dining in the Dark dinners, where guests spend 30 minutes in total darkness as they eat dinner. In the dark, guests must rely on their other senses to feed themselves, simulating how it might feel to eat as a blind or visually impaired individual everyday. “I definitely ate a clump of butter,” laughs Katie James a
s she recounts her first Dining in the Dark experience. She attended the Westchester-Fairfield Dining in the Dark as a guest of the Foundation in 2008. “I had no idea what to expect,” she remembers. “There are moments when you think, ‘Wow, this is what it must be like.’ And it’s unsettling.”
Despite the initial scariness of the dark room, Katie thoroughly enjoyed herself. “I think it shows the importance of having a sense of humor because when you’re visually impaired, there are times when you don’t know what you just ate. I’ve been out to dinner plenty of times and knocked over my glass.” Katie was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a juvenile form of macular degeneration that causes progressive loss of central vision, when she was 11 years old. “It was a scary time,” she recalls. Her older sister had already been diagnosed with the condition, and her younger sister would later be diagnosed as well. “The dinner was a great experience,” Katie says. “I really appreciated the fact that the servers were visually impaired as well.” All of the servers at the Dining in the Dark dinners are blind or visually impaired, and use ropes to guide themselves to and from the tables. Guests are asked not to put jackets or purses on the backs of their chairs, as the servers use them to navigate the room, as well. “It was kind of nice to be in an environment where people know you are visually impaired and are kind enough to come over and say hello,” Katie says. After attending the Westchester-Fairfield dinner and discovering that she really enjoyed herself, Katie decided to serve on the committee for the New York Dining in the Dark. Katie has known about the Foundation since her childhood. Her father, Bill, was very active in the St. Louis chapter and has served as a national trustee since 1999. “I was involved with the Foundation essentially through my father, so when I moved to New York in 2005, it was something I wanted to do on my own,” she says. Katie has been very involved with the Foundation in the New York area ever since, so her decision to be involved in the New York Dining in the Dark seemed natural. “To be honest though, when the Foundation first launched this event, I wasn’t interested. I thought, ‘Why on earth would I want to have dinner in the dark?’” Katie says. Her father, still active in the St. Louis chapter to this day, wasn’t intrigued either. “After I attended the dinner in Westchester-Fairfield, I called my dad to tell him maybe we were wrong.” Her father later chaired a very successful inaugural Dining in the Dark in St. Louis. The Foundation has held more than 23 Dining in the Dark dinners to date, all of which have raised more than $6.6 million. At this year’s New York Dining in the Dark, Katie was excited to catch up with so many people she’d met over the course of her time spent with the Foundation, especially Gordon and Lulie Gund. “It was really special having them there,” says Katie. She is looking forward to participating on the committee for the New York dinner again next year. “I think it’s a really special event. It’s definitely an eye-opening experience,” she says. To anyone who hasn’t attended a Dining in the Dark dinner, Katie advises, “Keep an open mind.” |
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