More than 150 people packed Bayville’s Crescent Beach Club on 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 Bruce Kennedy, Sea Cliff village administrator, who has added diabetes advocate to the long list of hats he has worn in his life as a public servant and former village mayor, entrepreneur and 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 Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader, 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.
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.”
