(BAYVILLE, N.Y). – More than 150 people packed Bayville’s Crescent Beach Club on Wednesday, April 9 for the 19th annual “Cooking for a Cure” fundraiser – an event which raised tens of thousands of dollars in support of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.
The night’s honoree was Sea Cliff Village Administrator Bruce Kennedy, who has added diabetes advocate to the long list of hats he has worn in his life as a dedicated public servant and former Village Mayor, successful entrepreneur and passionate community advocate.
Kennedy has been a longtime supporter of diabetes advocacy. He has attended many “Cooking for a Cure” dinners to support his friend and Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, a Diabetes Research Institute Long Island board member and Cooking for a Cure co-chair with Rebecca Castronovo who has helped to raise over $1 million toward research for a cure since her daughter, Amanda, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 3. He and DeRiggi-Whitton share a mutual friend in former Glen Cove City Councilman Tony Jimenez, who has lived with diabetes for many years.
The cause took on a newly personal urgency for Kennedy when his son, Alex, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on Feb. 8, 2023, after being rushed to the hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. with a severe case of diabetic ketoacidosis.
“When my son was diagnosed, we were scared, we didn’t know what to do next – how do we deal with this?” Kennedy said. “I don’t know how fast I was driving, but I was there in 35 minutes. The first phone call was to Delia – she walked me through exactly what was going on. She talked me off a cliff.”
Now immersed in the cause, Kennedy said he believes that a cure is within reach – in large part to the efforts of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.
“While he’s doing well and Amanda’s doing well, there’s no reason we can’t do what we can to free them from the bond of this disease,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing here tonight – we’re making a difference, and we’re going to change the world.”
“Whenever Bruce takes on a cause, he does it with his entire heart – and that has never been truer than his commitment to this fight,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “From the first phone call more than two years ago to today, it has been a joy to watch his son fulfill his dreams and live his life to the fullest. Cooking for a Cure has been a labor of love for the last two decades, and stories like Alex’s beautifully illustrate how far we have come and how close we are to a cure. It has been a privilege to cohost this event with Rebecca and work with an amazing committee – some of whom have been with us since the very beginning.”
The pursuit of a cure got a major boost when the event’s major sponsors, Roberta and Bruce Waller, agreed to underwrite all the costs associated with staging the event for a second consecutive year - meaning that 100 percent of the night’s proceeds will support go to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation. The proceeds were further buoyed by a major donation from the Peter & Jeri DeJana Foundation.
Proceeds were further boosted by attendees’ taking their chances on winning 65 raffle prizes that were up for grabs during the event.
PHOTO CREDITS – Photos by Peter M. Budraitis