“We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone!”
The Vision Is Power Foundation & Network
Duval Spring Fest 2023 will include a local designer and model showcase where we will donate prom dresses and prom tuxes to 2 pairs of underserved local students, a youth and adult showcase tournament where the grand prize is a performance spot in Atlanta during BET Hip Hop Awards weekend, and our annual Feed Those In Need volunteer event -- we are calling on the community to bring clothing, sanitary supplies, and hygiene items to donate for us to distribute on Spring Fest Sunday
Jax Summer Fest 2021 will include a Back 2 School Supply Drive, an adult and youth Flag Football Tournament, and our annual Feed Those In Need event -- find info at JaxSummerFest2021.eventbrite.com
DUVAL Spring Fest 2018 Official Facebook Event Page --> https://www.facebook.com/events/163698864401730/ DUVAL Spring Fest 2018 Official Eventbrite Page --> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/duval-spring-fest-ryb-2018-tickets-41809559518
VIPSquad Entertainment | CW17's Life & Grind: Duval TV Series | Moneyholic Entertainment | First Coast Lupus Fight | Jacksonville: Young Urban Professionals Network Present
DUVAL Spring Fest 2018 | Rep Yo Brand! Business & Talent Expo 2018
THU March 22-SUN March 25 Jacksonville, FL
DUVAL Spring Fest + RYB! 2018, (Duval Spring Music & Community Festival) a Jacksonville-based, all-indie music concert series, has been held every spring since the founder (Jacksonville-based Hip Hop/Caribbean artist and music/TV producer Dez Nado) was a student at the University of North Florida circa 2006, the year that the first Spring Fest was held at "Wackadoo's" on the campus of the university. The event was designed to be a platform for local talent, local businesses, and local musicians to showcase themselves and their brands, with the over-arching goal being to raise the level of awareness for local music/business while offering locals more opportunities to connect with potential supporters and upping the quality of the local entertainment scene at the independent level. Each year the festival dedicates at least one event during the weekend to directly benefiting the community.
("Feed Those In Need", where volunteers are called usually on the last afternoon of the weekend to distribute food and clothing to the less fortunate, and "Each One, Teach One", where the community is called to donate funds for high school graduate scholarships, academic & health/fitness programs, and for school supplies for underserved K-12 students, both to be administered via The VIP and Chasity Taylor Foundations)
Since then, the event's brand has developed into an impactful yearly rite of passage for many up-and-comers in the local music scene, having received acclaim from Starz TV Producer & Eminem protégé 50 Cent's G-Unit Records, Def Jam Records executive A. Lindsey, local news & entertainment media including Folio Weekly, Buzz Magazine, Jacksonville Magazine, The Chat, River City Live, and more. This year, Spring Fest is partnering with a similarly structured local event, called "Rep Yo Brand! Business and Talent Expo" along with Top Golf, First Coast Lupus Fight, and Jax Young Urban Professionals to bring another aspect to Spring Fest weekend; community health awareness, by calling on the community to support non-profit organizations like First Coast Lupus Fight for the betterment of the local community's health as a whole (Tickets for Rep Yo Brand! Expo can be purchased separately HERE https://www.eventbrite.com/e/journey-2-a-cure-benefit-rep-yo-brand-business-talent-expo-2018-tickets-36905131241#tickets ).
The goal this year is to not only raise awareness and support for the less fortunate, underserved K-12 students and graduates, along with Jax's local entertainers and entrepreneurs, but also to raise awareness and support for those within and outside of the entertainment industry battling incurable illnesses, including lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Graves' Disease, HIV/AIDS, and more. Their goal is to not just raise funds to donate to non-profits like First Coast Lupus Fight ($5,000 goal) and The Chasity Taylor Foundation ($5,000 goal), but to also boldly be the voice for those suffering, many of whom often feel voiceless in today's society.
The lineup of events starts on Thursday, March 22 with a fundraising kick-off lunch from 11am-5pm at Blaze Pizza where locals can bring a Spring Fest coupon print-out/digital flyer and donate 20% to the causes of the festival, and later there will be a private wine tasting from 6-8pm for raffle winners from the community and event VIPs at Total Wine & More. The official kick-off party will be at LIVE BAR on Bay street Friday night (March 23), followed by a Community Benefit Luncheon at Maa Banquet Hall on Saturday March 24, 12-3pm, for victims of the aforementioned illnesses along with at-risk students who will have a chance to receive donated prom dress/tuxedo rentals on behalf of VIP/The Chasity Taylor Foundation. That night, there will be a local/independent music showcase for local bands and musicians at Morocco Shrine Auditorium, and on Sunday, March 25, they wrap up the weekend with Feed Those in Need 2-4pm at Hemming Park, and finally Journey 2 A Cure Benefit - Rep Yo Brand! Business & Talent Expo from 6-9pm at Top Golf, featuring Jacksonville's top musical talent, models, fashion designers, and small businesses on display.
Thursday MAR 22
Blaze Pizza Presents: The Official Fundraiser Kick-Off Lunch & Donation Drop-Off @ Blaze Pizza - Town Center with The Chasity Taylor Foundation & The Man Kave BarberShop - 4488 Town Center Pkwy 32224 -- 11AM-5PM
Total Wine & More Presents: A Taste of Italy: Barolo & Brunello di Montalcino VIP Fine Wine Tasting @ Total Wine & More Private Event - RSVP Required 4413 Town Center Pkwy 32246 -- 6-8PM
Friday MAR 23
Mince Productions Presents: Welcome 2 DUVAL Kick-Off Party & Mixer @ LIVE Bar with Selectah Cy - 331 E Bay St. 32202 -- 9PM-Until
Saturday MAR 24
Wawa & Vision Is Power Present: DUVAL Spring Fest Community Benefit Luncheon @ Maa Banquet Hall Hosted by Charlie Bravo with DJ O - Catered by Stick To Ya Roots Catering
with WJXT/News4Jax's Destiny McKeiver, Chasity Taylor Foundation founder Latricia Taylor, Life Coach/Mentor & Finally SHE founder MrsChelle Martin-Pearman, Time2Shine Radio Host Ajeania G, Olympus Group CEO & Part-Owner of Alabama Sabers Gibril Davies Jr., & MORE - 8206 Philips Hwy #22, 32256 -- 12-3PM
Wigged Outt & Mix Therapy Studios + Scene 904 Productions Present: Leisure Couture Fashion Show @ Truth Entertainment Complex Hosted by B. More featuring Tony Mazi, O'Money Tipton, Mz Penny, William Boston Apparel & MORE - 11000 Beach Blvd. 32250 -- 4-7PM
Power 106.1 + CW17 & VIPSquad ENT Present: Artists 2 Watch 2018 Concert @ Morocco Shrine Auditorium Hosted by Guru & Sonita Dorcena with DJ King Ron featuring I Am Rye Bread, Fujin, DCS, Airy A, Lady C, J.R Da Don, Wally Cat, Serious Penny Fatboy Offglass, Fuller, Jus Stacks & MORE - 3800 St. Johns Bluff Rd. S 32224 8PM-Midnight
Sunday MAR 25
Wawa & Man Kave Barbershop Present: Feed Those in Need @ Hemming Park Volunteers Must Register in Advance - 135 W Monroe St. 32202 2-4PM **Non-Perishable Food, Personal Hygiene & Clothing Accepted @ The Man Kave BarberShop - 6209 Merrill Rd. -- 2-4PM
Jax YUP + Suade Out & First Coast Lupus Fight Present: Journey 2 A Cure Benefit - Rep Yo Brand! Business & Talent Expo @ Top Golf featuring Jax's top musical talent, models, fashion designers, and small businesses on display with DJ GURU | FunnyBone | Shennette Sparkes | Shellecia Cogdell - 10531 Brightman Blvd. 32246 -- 6-9PM
For sponsorship, vendor, performer, or other info: 904.651.7960 | 904.270.9403 | 904.576.3676 | www.Facebook.com/RepYoBrand | www.VIPSquadNation.com/VIP-Foundation-Causes | www.Facebook.com/LifeGrindDuval | www.Facebook.com/DezNado | www.Facebook.com/LifeGrindATL | www.Facebook.com/VIPSquadENT
The VIPF exists and works in collaboration with the VIPN to be a platform for local talent/art, local businesses, and local musicians to showcase themselves and their brands, with the over-arching goal being to raise the level of awareness for local music/business while offering locals more opportunities to connect with potential supporters and upping the quality of the local entertainment scene in Jacksonville at the independent level, since many big businesses and successful venues refuse to support local talent/art, business, and media. In all of our initiatives, we share our resources and platforms with and additionally channel our efforts to other local not-for-profit organizations rooted in the community, such as The Chasity Taylor Foundation, which exists to support underserved local K-12 students by donating school supplies and offering scholarship money for new college students, and also connecting them with academic and health/fitness programs designed to improve the likelihood of their long-term success, and organizations like First Coast Lupus Fight that exists for the purpose of raising community health awareness, promoting disease prevention, and advocating general health/fitness of all
Press Photos
Chasity Taylor Foundation volunteers with Dez Nado, Feed Those In Need 2016 - an event during the annual Duval Spring Music & Community Festival in Jacksonville, FL
Chasity Taylor Foundation volunteers community event 2017 - Dez Nado and cable TV series cast members from Life & Grind volunteered to help out CTF and over 100 bookbags were collected for underserved area K-12 students.