Dave Doozan grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, with six brothers and four sisters. He went to Central Michigan University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in School Administration. He taught grades K – 4 for seven years before becoming a principal. His administrative assignments included elementary principal, middle school principal, assistant superintendent, and interim superintendent.
After he retired from the field of education, he worked for Prudential Insurance until 2017, when he and his wife, Sue, moved to the Villages, Florida, where he began his volunteer work with Dads For a Day as the Program Manager.
Dave and Sue have three children that were raised in a loving Christian home. All three have been successful in their chosen fields; IT specialist, lawyer, and medical physicist.
Brandon Burns grew up in a family of alcoholics and drug abusers on an Indian reservation in New York. He was taken from the parents and given to his grandparents at a young age. He was struggling with learning and self-confidence when the grandparents applied for help through Dads For a Day in 2017.
With the help of DFAD, Brandon worked toward his GED diploma. In 2022, he was in the first graduating class of the Dads For a Day Program.
Brandon is now employed in the kitchen at Fenney Grill in Wildwood assisting in food preparation.
Brandon is now serving on the board for Dad For a Day in a way to give back to the program that served him well.
He will be an important voice that will speak for those we serve.
Sakia Duperme was raised in Miami, Florida. She has an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE). She is currently working on a double major; A Bachelors Degree in ECE and an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice. She a single mother. Her son, Joey, started in the Dads For a Day program in when he was nine-years old. His mentor, Mr. Bob and he have been together for four years.
Tim Whitman was born in Winterhaven, Florida. He has one brother. He attended school in Winterhaven for elementary school and middle school, graduated from Auburndale High School in 1976. He attended Travis Vocational School to study Electronics.
Tim married his wife, Fran, in 1987. They were togetherr4 until she passed in 2023. Tim worked several jobs in construction until he was employed with Duke Energy, from which he retired in 2018.
We give our mentees a strong moral compass, a sturdy spiritual anchor, and the Good News
of Jesus Christ.
The Dads For a Day program sponsored by The Encounter Church of Wildwood will provide service to any young man between the ages of 8 and 15 living within a 20 minute of The Villages, Florida that is living in a home without a male role model.
Dads For a Day is a mentoring service for young men growing up without a father or other male role model in their house. Each child is assigned a mentor that will stay with the until they graduate from high school and have a plan in place for the next chapter of their life.
No, At this time we only provide service to young men. We hope to develop a program for young ladies without fathers as there is a need for them, as well.
The child and the mentor will meet for at least two hours per week. They may go to a restaurant, throw a football around, go fishing, or just find a quiet place to talk, just as a father would.
DFAD has developed a curriculum to help guide discussions. During the first four months of the program, there will be training sessions with the teams to help you get to know each other. If you or your child is not comfortable with the relationship, it will be terminated and, if you desire, a new mentor will be assigned.
DFAD does a thorough screening on every mentor, which includes a nationwide criminal background check, Social Security background check, and a driver’s license background check. The program Director then meets with any person that has applied to work in the program to explain how the program works and how to develop the relationship.
DFAD does not allow the mentor to take the child to his house, cottage, RV, or houseboat until they have been together for a year and have developed the respect for each other to be comfortable together.
About every four to six weeks, a group activity will be arranged for whichever teams are available to attend. Some examples of past activities are going to a UCF football game, bowling, touring a horse farm, airboat ride, pontoon boat ride and fishing, game nights, movie nights, etc.
First, you must complete the application. Once it is received, the Program Manager will interview the child and the guardian at their house to explain the program and be sure that they are still interested.
There is a initial commitment during which there are training sessions for the mentor/child teams and the guardians during which they will meet twice a month at the church for about 90 minutes.
The other two weeks in the month the mentors are encouraged to pair up with another team to do other activities of interest such as hiking, biking, fishing, arcade games, etc.
After the first year, the teams may do activities on their own.
DFAD does not provide auto insurance. It is required that you have adequate automobile insurance in case of an accident, the same as you would have for any other passenger.
Our insurance will not cover hunting accidents. You are not allowed to have any guns, knives or other weapons on you or in your car when you have the child with you.
You may keep a knife in your tackle box for cleaning the fish.
It is our desire that you spend about two hours per week with the child. That is the equivalent of one round of executive gold, or a session of pickleball each week. As your relationship grows and you get to know each other better, there is a good chance that you will increase the amount of time spent together. Many of our teams become very good friends with the whole family. Over time, you will feel like you have another child of your own and will be present at graduation and other important moments.
While circumstances have arisen where a mentor has had more than one child, it is not the norm, nor the desire. It makes it difficult to provide service to both children.
DFAD does not reimburse the money spent on activities with your child. DFAD does pay for the tickets to the monthly activities.
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