Dream Center 2023 Engage Lakeland Banquet

Reserve your spot now for this year's Engage Lakeland Banquet where you'll enjoy a first-class meal and hear from Keynote Speaker and prominent Chicago Pastor Wilfredo "Choco" De Jesus, previously listed as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People.

The Dream Center of Lakeland, which has been in operation since 2001, is a non-profit community center that is dedicated to bringing hope to our neighbors in need through service, resources, and education. Through mentoring programs for children and adults, numerous city-wide service projects, food and resource distribution, neighborhood meals, and much more, the Dream Center team works diligently to serve Lakeland's most vulnerable populations.

We are asking individuals and business leaders of Lakeland to sponsor a table of 8 people for just $500 and invite other local business leaders in your circle of influence to attend this year's banquet on Tuesday, September 26, at 6:30 PM to help us raise needed funds for this critical work.

About Choco

Wilfredo “Choco” De Jesus served in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of
Chicago as Lead Pastor of New Life Covenant Church for over 19 years
(2000-2019). The church has seen a tremendous amount of growth and
influence through the planting of multi-site campuses, effective urban and
community outreach, and through world missions.

Today, Pastor Choco serves as the General Treasurer of the Assemblies of God. A pentecostal denomination serving 13,017 churches in the U.S., with over 3 million members and adherents and with more than 69 million members worldwide.

Pastor Choco has a heart to reach even the most marginalized with the Gospel andthe saving power of Jesus Christ. In April 2013, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world and recognized for his leadership and influence within the Evangelical and Latino community, to the Glory of God.

Pastor Choco is also the author of five books: Amazing Faith, In the Gap, Stay the Course, Move Into More, and Love Them Anyway. In December of 2018, he graduated with his doctorate from Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida.

He and his wife Elizabeth have three adult children and six pretty amazing grandchildren.