VOTE for your favorite Dapper Dad today!
The Dapper Dads Challenge and Fashion show consists of a campaign for online votes from the community, and the Dapper Dad's Fashion Show, which is the culmination of the challenge. Each vote costs $5 and is 100% tax-deductible; all proceeds support the mission of women's health. The suite of Dapper Dads in 2018 raised nearly $1,000,000 to benefit the health of women in our community.
Since its inception, this popular event hosted by Women Working Wonders (W3) and the Sparrow Foundation, has raised more than $4.1 million in support of the physical and psychological health of women in mid-Michigan. Every year, local community leaders and professionals, who are passionate about supporting women's health in our region, are recruited to be a new suite of Dapper Dads and Dudes.
Founded in 2002 by Lansing entrepreneur Virginia Hilbert, the Sparrow Foundation’s Women Working Wonders (W3) Committee works tirelessly to support the physical and psychological health of women in mid-Michigan. The committee comprises more than 35 professional women from the Greater Lansing area. With the generous support of our community, W3 has raised more than $2.2 million for initiatives that advance women’s health. Its signature fundraisers are The Dapper Dads Challenge and Fashion Show, and Kaleidoscope.Thanks to community philanthropy, W3 supported/funded projects include:
- A $250,000 MicroSelection HDR V2 that reduces radiation treatment for Patients
- A state-of-the-art stereotactic breast biopsy machine for Sparrow’s Radiology Department.
- A dedicated room for the compassionate treatment of sexual assault victims.
- A Transition-to-Hospice Program that helps terminally ill Patients and their families ease into end-of-life care.
- An Infant Bereavement Program for the heartbreaking times when parents lose a newborn.
- Pocket-sized cards outlining symptoms of heart disease and stroke specific to women, created and distributed throughout the region.
- A comfortable (and comforting) family lounge in Sparrow’s Neurosciences Center.
- Softer, more comfortable examination gowns for women undergoing mammograms at Sparrow.
- A lactation clinic at Sparrow to assist mothers who may have challenges breastfeeding their new babies.
- The creation of the Deb Atkinson W3 Endowment
- A $1 million pledge to Sparrow's new Herbert-Herman Cancer Center