“Sleeping under tarps on construction sites, in alleyways and parking lots while scratching for pennies makes for appreciation of things many take for granted,”

“But my life on the streets in Vancouver is nothing compared to the cycle of poverty that plagues millions in India,” said Duperron.

Reaching into his impoverished past, Dean Dupperon, this week launched a million dollar initiative called Class Act Canada, to help build a future for others.

“Education and life gave me a chance, now my family and I want to give back,” said the 53-year old, whose personal rags-to-riches tale is the kind of success story movies are made of.

Today, as the President and CEO of the 106-year-old Sprott-Shaw College, a highly successful 22 campus global organization, Duperron has decided to offer $1 million in free education for ten individuals looking to improve their lot in life.

 “I believe with the opportunity to become educated, an individual who is living in poverty or with extreme challenges has a door opened to not only change their own life but to change an entire community.”

“While helping Canadians, I also really hope that we can help some slum kids from India through Class Act Canada.”

The innovative philanthropic program, called Class Act Canada, allows an individual to enter a 60-90 second video via the Internet outlining “what I would do with a degree/diploma from Sprott-Shaw College”.

The top 100 applicant finalists will be identified through a process of online public voting. A second round of public voting will then select the top twenty vote getters.

A third round of voting will rank the top twenty.  Judges will then select the top ten Class Act Champions.

The ten deserving students from Canada and around the globe will be awarded an all-expenses paid education at a Sprott-Shaw Community College campus in British Columbia, Canada, valued at up to $100,000 per scholarship.

The prize will include a degree/diploma course at Sprott-Shaw College (BC campuses only), books and tuition, airfare to and from hometown, food and lodging, and transportation to and from the selected Sprott-Shaw College.

Sprott-Shaw is a 22-campus global post secondary institution with campuses in Canada, Jordan, India, China and Vietnam. The institution employs 250 people globally and educates over 4,500 students in 140 programs annually. It is the oldest college in B.C.

Duperron and his wife Sherri are active philanthropists and see this as an opportunity to give ten individuals the skills and tools to make a significant difference in their own, their families and their communities.

Class Act Canada, whose partners include the Vancouver Board of Trade, the Fair at the PNE, the Vancouver-based ideas company New Market Multimedia Inc and Free the Children and international organization of more than one million children, who help other children through education, is also set to showcase B.C. as an international educational hub.

Judges for Class Act Canada include Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Darcy Rezac, Craig Kielburger, co-founder of Free The Children, Province editor-in-chief Wayne Moriarty and former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford.

Class Act Canada, which launches Aug. 20, is already getting a buzz worldwide.

“This is an ideal opportunity for children across the world to get quality education in the beautiful setting of B.C.,” said Moin-Ul-Haque, the Consul General for Pakistan in Vancouver.

Bensy Teo, a marketing executive in Shanghai expects a flood of applications from Shanghai.

“The results of Class Act Canada will be very successful with many dividends,” he said.

“I would be interested in looking at a partnership to promote this campaign in Malaysia,” said Frankie D’Cruz, the consultant editor of the Malay Mail in Kuala Lumpur.

Class Act Canada, with its aim of showcasing B.C. as an education destination, also comes as India celebrated its 63rd Independence Day, with a renewed vigor to educate its masses.

India recently enacted the Right to Education Act which is a law that provides each Indian the right to education.

Ashok Das, the Indian Consul General in Vancouver in his Independence Day message said every year some 200,000 Indian students go aboard for higher education spending about US$4 billion.

However, Canada now only attracts about 3,000 of them.

He advised institutions like Sprott Shaw and others to hold road shows in Indian cities to attract more Indian students.

As for Duperron, he is already thinking of a specialized version of his initiative called Class Act India for next year.
For more information go to www.classactcanada.com