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This year, DNDF plans to provide approximately $10,000 in scholarship funds to student applicants that have demonstrated financial challenges. The event organizers are striving to provide a memorable Beyond Our Dreams experience. They present a night hosted by accomplished Toronto lawyer, Donald McLeod, live musical performances by R&B singer Ray Robinson and a drumming display, amongst the recognitions of achievement. A silent auction boasts many covetable items, including spa and flight simulation packages.
Speaker Bill Shepard is one of just five black pilots currently flying the Harvard/T-6 WWII fighter trainer. On his 48th birthday last year, he passed a flight test to become one of only two black men currently flying WWII era P-51 Mustangs.
As part of the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) Rise Above travelling exhibit, he flies a rare P-51C fighter named Tuskegee Airmen, in honour of those brave trailblazing souls who fought for freedom internationally and domestically. Flying the Red Tail Mustang has allowed Shepard to meet as many as 150 of the Tuskegee Airmen, including Roscoe C. Brown, the first pilot to shoot down an ME262 – the first German fighter jet. Shepard is a long-term supporter of DNDF and has also worked with the Foundation as a director for Urban Pilots Network (UPN).
The DNDF continues to seek out partnerships with the business community for support in the form of sponsorship, event attendance and silent auction item donations.
Tickets for the dinner are $60 each and a table for eight can be purchased for $480. Tickets are available through the Foundation by calling (289) 752-7603, and at the venue from 6:30 p.m. on March 2, 2013, the day of the event. Versailles Convention Centre is located at 6721 Edwards Blvd, Mississauga, near Hurontario Street and Highway 401.
For more information, please visit www.thedreamneverdies.org.
