Northwest Kidney Centers got an infusion of cash Oct. 14, thanks to the efforts of Pearl Bar & Dining. The Bellevue restaurant hosted a three-course dinner paired with wines from Novelty Hill-Januik winery on behalf of the centers.

Executive Chef Bradley Dickinson and Managing Partner Mikel Rogers of Pearl donated all expenses associated with the dinner to the NKC, the fourth largest non-profit independent dialysis organization in the United States.

Dickinson reached out to the community for support of NKC, which serves 1,300 dialysis patients each year. According to research, one in seven adult Americans has chronic kidney disease, a progressive loss of renal function over a period of months or years. Treatment for chronic kidney disease involves a form of dialysis and eventually constitutes a kidney transplant.

Dickinson’s father-in-law received dialysis treatment at the Lake Washington Kidney Center in Bellevue for 10 years.

Both Dickinson and Rogers view community outreach as an important component of the restaurant industry.

“We’re committed. As a startup business, that’s a challenge, but we want to be involved in the community,” he said. “Mikel and I are trying to establish our name and Pearl. We want to be in the community, we want people talking about us, and to know that we’re involved.”

Pearl is located at 700 Bellevue Way NE, Suite 50, directly across from the main entrance of The Westin Bellevue. Visit www.pearlbellevue.com.

For more information on Northwest Kidney Centers, visit http://www.nwkidney.org/nkc/index.html.