One of our favorite restaurants in Raleigh is Mo’s Diner . Back when the restaurant opened, Hamid and Holly were urban pioneers. They invested their livelihood into a little house at Moore Square, and it turned out to be one of the best restaurants in the Triangle.

The restaurant is still great as ever, but unfortunately Hamid is having health troubles and needs our help. Holly and Mo are not the types of people who want a ton of attention, but if someone’s biggest regret were that too many people loved them, they’d be the richest person in history. Like it or not, y’all 😉 , here is the letter the restaurant’s staff sent to fans yesterday, and information about the ways we can all help (in addition to eating at the restaurant, of course).

Dear friends,

On behalf of Hamid and Holly, we, Vanessa, Kenneth, Jim, Chris, Stan, Cecilia, and Maria, the staff at Mo’s Diner, want to extend our great appreciation for your patronage over the last thirteen years. We are writing this letter to inform you of some very sad news. Hamid has been diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer. It has spread to his spine, and most other bones in his body. He has not worked at the restaurant in some time, and he has been going to medical appointments daily to deal with his situation. Holly has been cooking, managing the restaurant, and accompanying Hamid to all of his appointments. In addition, Holly has been working a second job which provides health insurance. To make matters more difficult, the health insurance for Hamid’s illness has capped, and all of the medical bills are now being paid out of pocket.

We are launching a series of benefits for Hamid to assist in paying his mounting medical bills. We humbly ask that you join us in this endeavor through donations, attendance at the events, and any other means of assistance which you deem appropriate. With the help of Capital Bank, we have set up an account, Friends For Hamid, to manage any funds received for this cause.  If you can not attend an event and want to donate, you can send a contribution to Mo’s Diner c/o Friends for Hamid.

We have set up several sites to inform you about the upcoming events:

• Facebook Friends For Hamid
• www.friendsforhamid.blogspot.com
• www.friendsforhamid.com

If you wish to send a comment to Hamid, inquire about the events, donate, or offer your thoughts about other things we can do for this cause, please send us an e-mail.

FriendsForHamid@aol.com

With some convincing, Holly allowed us to use this e-mail database to send you this message. We felt that sending it through the database of the patrons of Mo’s, it would reach the most people familiar with Mo’s and Hamid and Holly. Again, thank you for dining at Mo’s for all of these years. We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events.

With our kindest regards and appreciation,

Vanessa Smith
Kenneth Strothers
Jim Knott
Chris Adams
Stan Krepps
Cecilia Flores
Maria Lopez

Below, are the events we have planned to date. Other events will be announced later.

• Thursday, July 22 @ 9:00 pm
  Table for a Friend featuring DJ Robert Mooney
  $10.00 donation at the door
  Five Star Restaurant
  511 W. Hargett St.
  Come join us for appetizers, great music and maybe a little dancing.
  
• Sunday August 1 @ 6:30 pm
  Wine Dinner
  $100.00 donation
  Poole’s Diner
  426 S. McDowell St.
  creative, simple offerings carefully executed by Ashley Christensen
  
• Sunday August 15th
  Mo’s Better Benefit
  Pour House Music Hall
  224 S Blount St
  Rock Show by Raleigh’s Local Musicians
  
• Sunday August 29th
  Guest Chefs Benefit Dinner
  $150.00
  Mo’s Diner
  306 E. Hargett St.
  Ashley Christensen, William D’Auvray, Bret Jennings, Matt Kelly & Walter Royal
  
• Sunday September 26th
  Art & Music Reception
  Flander’s Art Gallery
  Art, Hor d’oeuvres & Live Acoustical Music
  302 S. West St
  
• Oct (to be announced)
  Silent Auction
  18 Seaboard, Suite 100
  Appetizer buffet, silent auction & live music