Date night? Volunteerism? Most parents have little to no time for either, despite good intentions. Could a 2-4-1 option get the ball rolling? That’s the exact premise of the Do Good Date Night series, Orlando’s fun, philanthropically-focused, couples’ outings that allows romantic partners to give quality attention to each other while giving back to the community.

The volunteerism-based date night concept was created by Kristen Manieri, founder of Orlando Date Night Guide, contributor to Orlando Family Magazine, and mother of two who understands the value of an evening out! Launched in September 2015, the event series, originally slated to host six to ten affairs per year, has partnered thus far with Feeding Children Everywhere, Second Harvest Food Bank, Heroes Holiday Toy Drive, and Goodwill Industries of Central Florida.

“Once couples make the decision to go to the (Do Good Date Night) event and they walk out the door, all of the other details are taken care of from there,” Manieri says. “I know for me, on date night, not having to think too hard about what it is that we’re doing is a win. Especially after a long week of work and parenting, it’s nice to have something that is turn-key.”

Remarkably, all events hosted thus far have sold out ─ a clear indication to the mindset of Orlando’s couples.

Date Night 101

Do Good Date Night events start off with an hour of volunteer service work and conclude with what Manieri likes to call the “party part,” where couples get to enjoy catered food, adult beverages, and interactive elements, such as trivia or a do-it-yourself dessert activity.

“A lot of local fundraisers can be $100 or $200 a ticket. One of the cornerstones of this concept is that our events are affordable,” Manieri explains. For the inaugural event, tickets cost only $35 per couple, which included catering by Swine & Sons, beer, trivia, and amazing raffle prizes. Do Good Date night tickets will typically range from $15 to $20 per person, although Manieri has some Valentine’s Day events planned that may slightly increase entry prices but will still be a bargain for their grub and entertainment.

Doing Good

Dr. Clifford Clark and the Orlando Aesthetic Institute serve as the Do Good Date Night match sponsor, meaning that, for every ticket sold per event, Clark matches the ticket revenue to double the contribution to the selected charity.

“I think another key element of this event series is that we actually do work that makes a real difference. When we worked with Feeding Children Everywhere, the couples created 9,504 meals in 45 minutes, and the money raised through the raffles and money matched by Dr. Clifford Clark funded 12,000 more,” Manieri recalled. “Couples had a tangible, hands-on impact on the issue of hunger, rather than simply writing a donation check.”

Lauren Bradley attended the inaugural Do Good Date Night with her husband Thomas. They both work full-time jobs and have two young daughters – ages 3 and 5 ─ so date night isn’t always an easy thing for them to arrange and pull off. “To be honest, we spend so much time with our kids and then you really have to look at the cost of a date,” shared Bradley. “When you’re single, it’s one thing – you can go out and have a date. When you have kids, there’s the additional cost of getting a babysitter.”

Bradley said one of the things she loved about the Do Good Date Night event was that it was affordable, and it was all planned out by coordinators so she didn’t have to come up with a plan. Along with that, they got to connect with a lot of like-minded couples, many of whom also had children. “It’s an opportunity to spend an evening with your spouse, doing something good that gives back to the community,” Bradley says, who intends to attend another Do Good Night Date. “You get to kind of bond with your spouse over something that is bigger than you!”

As for Manieri, the popularity of Do Good Date Night has quickly grown so that she plans to host monthly functions, and she also has a friend who is going to collaborate on launching Do Good Date Night in Asheville, NC. Ideally, Manieri would love to see this philanthropic date night concept expand across the U.S. and beyond.

“This is the gateway drug to volunteering,” she says. “Once people come out and do my event, they have experience with the featured nonprofit and understand what happens behind the scenes; they’ve gained firsthand insight into what it actually means to volunteer for that specific organization. My hope is that date participants will continue to support our nonprofit partners for years to come. There’s a trickle effect of connecting someone with a nonprofit with which they may not have connected with otherwise.”

Learn more at DoGoodDateNight.com.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, February 11

• Clean The World:  This Orlando-based, international organization redirects hotels’ toiletry waste to provide hygiene kits to those in need and, in turn, helps prevent illness. Since 2009, it has distributed 15 million bars of soap to more than 70 countries worldwide.

Sunday, February 14

• Feeding Children Everywhere: This Longwood-based charity empowers and mobilizes people to assemble healthy meals for hungry children. Since it began in 2010, it has sent more than 30 million meals to hungry children across the world.