It may not have the cachet of other causes out there, but it hits close to home for the staff and management at Langley Milestones.
“I think autism is one of those causes out there that with so many different places to put your support, it is not one of the ones that I guess is considered one of the big causes,” said general manager Rick Hilliard.
“That is all the more reason we rally behind it — it affects so many people out there.”
The restaurant will host their fourth annual Milestones Autism Awareness Night on Tuesday (April 28) with the servers donating their tips and the restaurant donating 10 per cent of their sales. The restaurant is at 20075 Langley Bypass.
There will also be a silent auction and live entertainment, featuring an acoustic band and one of the Milestones staff members, Kari Culjat — the 2013 Langley Has Talent winner — performing.
Central City Brewing — which brews a special Autism IPA for the month of April — has donated a cask of the beer and all proceeds from that will also go to the cause. And the restaurant’s chef has created some tasty canapés for guests to sample.
In the first three years, more than $16,000 has been raised for the B.C. Autism Society.
“Four years ago, the management team here decided this was a great opportunity to rally the local community and get everyone together and throw Milestones support behind the cause,” Hilliard explained.
One of the restaurant’s managers, Dave Baskin, has a son nine-year-old Jack, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder.
It is a complex condition that impacts brain development and affects social relationships, communication and behaviour to varying degrees.
“This night parallels the success of my autistic son: a lot of hard work from a lot of great people has made for a success story,” Baskin said, adding how grateful he was.
“Gratitude to the community for coming together for this event, gratitude to my management and chef team for all of their preparation, gratitude to the service team for donating their tips.”