Get ready for a big red carpet Hollywood Night right here in the Detroit area. The theme this year is "007". It's all part of a fundraising effort by the D-MAN Foundation that helps people who have severe disabilities.
It's set for Friday night October 20th from 8pm to 10pm at the Historic Lafayette Grande hotel in Pontiac. CLICK THE VIDEO PLAYER FOR ANN MARIE LAFLAME'S INTERVIEW ON 7 ACTION NEWS AT NOON.
TICKET PRICES: $150 FOR SINGLE, $250 PER COUPLE
Tickets and sponsor packages can be purchased online at www.dmanhollywood.comor by email at hadicapable@mydman.org. You can also inquire by phone at 248-896-9118
HERE'S WHAT THE ORGANIZATION SAYS ABOUT IT'S MISSION:
The event will raise funds for the D-MAN Foundation's charitable activities, such as their Assisted Travel Program, which organizes and funds entertainment outings and vacations for people living with severe physical and mental disabilities.
"It can take up to four months to plan and execute a vacation that accommodates individuals with severe injuries properly," says D-MAN's founder, Ziad Kassab. "It's costly and complex."
This past August, the DMAN Foundation granted six lucky individuals the opportunity to join their first Assisted Travel Group Cruise to the Bahamas! The Foundation took care of all of the traveling logistics and funded the entire trip. Travar, who is paralyzed from the neck down, was transferred out of his wheelchair and onto a beach chair to be able to put his feet into the ocean and watch the sun set, a sight himself and the entire team will always cherish. The memories they created together are ones the clients, their families, staff, care givers, and board members will never forget.
Another program the yearly fundraiser helps make possible is D-MAN's groundbreaking and state-of-the-art Music Therapy Studio. Ziad, and his brother Calvin, himself a musician, created the concept out of their personal experience with the foundation's inspiration, their brother, Danny Kassab.
Danny was severely injured in a car accident at age 7. He lived as a ventilator-dependant quadriplegic for sixteen years, until his death in 2009. Just months before his passing, Danny was brought into a recording studio by Calvin.
He wanted desperately to record a rap song, but the process was difficult for him because of his breathing. They recorded his performance, and then edited out the breaks in his breath. What they were left with was Danny's voice without the interruption of his ventilator.
"Wow, that's what I would sound like if I could breathe on my own," he told his brothers.
The experience was transformative for all three brothers, and the Kassabs became determined to create the Music Therapy Studio in honor of Danny.
The only one of its kind in the nation, D-MAN's Music Therapy Studio provides a unique "barrier-free" recording experience for patients with severe disabilities such as quadriplegia and severe mental, emotional, and cognitive impairment.
The studio uses special assistive technology that allows users to control recording equipment without the use of hands or feet."With the help of an Audio Engineer and a Board-Certified Music Therapist, not only are they achieving clinical goals, but they're also able to record their music in an actual recording booth," Ziad says. "It's very cool stuff that's happening here."
