Gather for Good: Raleigh | Dinner Benefit for Me Fine Foundation

More Than a Meetup 🎉 As part of our FOODIES + NEW FRIENDS series.

Percentage of monthly proceeds to benefit a different non-profit in each state each month. 50 states, 6 people per table, new friends at the end of the day.

For the North Carolina series, our gatherings support Me Fine. The foundation's mission is to provide hope through emotional support and financial assistance to families whose children are receiving care at our North Carolina partner hospitals.

Hop off Eventbrite to become a monthly member on our official site, Foodies + New Friends. This page is to become part of a group, not to sign up for an individual date. Sign up there for portion of monthly memberships are donated to local food banks. Here, everytime you join a table, we support a family by putting dinner on theirs!

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How does this work?

When you sign up we will send you a welcoming email. If you don't get it within 5 minutes of signing up, please contact us. After we get a final headcount closer to the date, we will make a table reservtion with a restaurant of the month.

Please be mindful that your registration does not include your individual food and drink purchases. $10 goes towards maintaining our platform, and $10 goes towards our featured nonprofit beneficiary.

These outings are intended to help people make friends. These are not dating gatherings. 🧍‍♂️ 🧍‍♀️

Our pages are set to $USD 💵

Our intention is 4 diners minumum, 6 maximum per night.

Check out our feature in Eventbrite's 2025 TRNDS report about embracing the micro-event trend.

Email us at ermantourageimpact@gmail.com for info prior to signing up if you'd like, or for partnerships, or to add your business to our restaurant roster!
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Every Event Includes…

🎲 Signature Icebreaker Questions

No awkward introductions.

Each table receives icebreaker questions shortly before the reservation time via email.

Questions range from funny to the meaningful…

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🍽️ Shared Dining Experience

Relax. Eat. Laugh. Tell stories. No speeches. No pressure. Just conversation, and hopefully food you'll truly love!

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🎯 The Wrap-Up

Every gathering ends with a fun wrap-up round of questions sent in the same email the icebreaker questions are sent.

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📸 Memory Moment

Everyone is invited to gather for a group photo after the wrap-up.

If everyone agrees, it becomes part of your city’s community gallery inside the app.

It’s a reminder that strangers became acquaintances—and sometimes friends.

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Coverage 📰
Cincinnati Magazine interview

Good Morning Washington interview

Here’s our feature on Fox 11 Los Angeles!

Check out our feature in Nashville news station Fox 17

Lewiston, Maine News

*Your registration does not include your individual food and drink purchases. A paid ticket simply makes you more committed to actually showing up, supports our team's endeavors, and contributes to the featured cause of the month.

*If you sign up the day of, there's a risk of already reaching our maximum attendees for the night, or not having enough interest to move forward with a table reservation. Simply email ermantourageimpact@gmail.com for info prior to signing up if you'd like.

Our vision is simple: we take the no gimmicks approach to networking. No need for yet another app to take up space on your phone - just four walls and a roof and good food for people to connect :) We coordinate with you directly, human-to-human. 🤖

Brought to you by event series Ermantourage. Please follow on IG:

@ermantourage

@thecomeunityproject

@foodiesandnewfriends

Check out our other endeavor TheComeunityProject.com and see how we use our platform to help families in need. Campaigns include family medical emergencies, bucket lists, and more.

Testimonials📝

"It was so great! I will share pictures of food and if you need anywhere to share the experience! You did it better than AI! All of us were from different parts of the world, somehow having similar interests even though the age was different. Super cozy and friendly and amazing. We had one birthday (Persephone) so we gave her a cake!Thanks for hosting and looking forward to more events!" -Korina from Munich

"Hey, just wanted to give an update months later. I ended up forming a long term friend from this event and am very grateful. Thank you for helping set it up!" - Daritza from Austin

“It was a great event, Erman - thanks -- great group, friendly environment, and a really good way to be introduced to people.... “ - Ron from NYC, dinner with creatives edition

“The organizers did a great job coordinating this event. It was a great selection of people, good vibes all around, and such a fun time. Perfect if you’re looking to connect and make new friends!” -Eden from Los Angeles

“I went in not knowing what to expect, but this ended up being such a great experience. The group was fun and easy to connect with, and the overall vibe felt very natural, not forced or awkward at all. We had great conversations, lots of laughs, and I genuinely enjoyed meeting everyone. We’ve even stayed in touch and plan to meet up again, which says a lot. Would absolutely do this again.” -Claudia from Miami

“I’m glad to say that the events that Erman and his team have put together have surpassed my expectations! I’m also satisfied with how well they have been curated towards my interests and schedule. The uniqueness of these experiences have been much more enjoyable than I could’ve imagined!” -Michael D. from Virginia Beach

The Story Behind Me Fine

One of the first questions we are typically asked is, “Why are you called ‘Me Fine’?” Our unique choice of name is our way of honoring the memory of a brave little boy named Folden Lee IV, who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in May of 2003. Although one would expect a two-year-old child receiving chemotherapy treatment to act fussy, upset, or at the very least, weary, whenever Folden was asked how he was doing, his response was always “Me Fine!” In spite of gallant efforts, Folden passed in September of 2004. He was two years old.

During their 15-month-long battle with leukemia, Folden’s family experienced firsthand both the tremendous stress of caring for a child with a life-threatening illness and the overwhelming burden of the exorbitant medical costs associated with his treatment. In 2004, Folden’s friends and family members founded the Me Fine Foundation as a way to pool resources for families facing life-threatening childhood illnesses. In 2013, Me Fine acquired another local non-profit called Striving for More, which was founded in memory of Colleen Moore, who died of cancer at age nine. This merger increased the scope of our services to include psychological and emotional support to childhood cancer patients at Duke and UNC Children’s Hospitals. In 2018, Me Fine launched its first-ever expansion, beginning service at WakeMed Children’s Hospital and focusing on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Through Me Fine’s work, Folden’s ability to find the good in even the most challenging situation lives on and has benefited thousands of other children. No one can change what these children are forced to endure medically, but through our combined effort, we can ease the burdens of their caregivers and make their countless days in the hospital a little easier to endure.