Over 170 attendees raised over $60,000 at the 19th annual Cooking for a Cure fundraiser for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.
The annual event, held on Wednesday, April 9, at the Crescent Beach Club in Bayville, began almost 20 years ago by Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, whose daughter Amanda was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a child. In the past 19 years, the annual event has raised over $1 million.
This year’s honoree was former Sea Cliff mayor and current Village Administrator Bruce Kennedy, whose son, Alex, was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago, at age 25. Although he was already a long-time supporter of the fundraiser, he said the cause “hit home” after Alex’s diagnosis.
“The search for a cure is something that I’m very passionate about now,” Kennedy previously said.
“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 in a release.
Kennedy said that when his son was diagnosed with the disease, after being rushed to the hospital with a case of diabetic ketoacidosis, his first phone call was to DeRiggi-Whitton.
“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,” DeRiggi-Whitton said.
“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,” Kennedy said in a release. “That’s what we’re doing here tonight – we’re making a difference, and we’re going to change the world.”
A total of 176 people attended the event, participating in a raffle to raise money for a cure.
“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,” DeRiggi-Whitton said.
DeRiggi-Whitton’s office said this year’s proceeds were bolstered by Roberta and Bruce Waller, who covered the costs of staging the event for the second year in a row. With their help, 100% of the proceeds will support the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, her office said.
For more information on the research for a cure, please visit the institution at diabetesresearch.org.
