Randi Fibus-Caster Pro Am Diabetes Golf Classic
April 22, 2012
On Earth Day, while people all around the world focused on going green, supporters of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) were raising ‘green’ at the Randi Fibus-Caster Pro Am Diabetes Golf Classic. After amateurs played golf alongside pros at The Polo Club of Boca Raton, Chairpersons Jeanne and Ken Fibus invited nearly 200 guests to join them for a cocktail party and dinner. The event was named for their daughter who has lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years, and they were thrilled to announce that it produced $20,000 for the cure-focused work of the DRI, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
“In the past decade I’ve received two islet cell transplants at the Diabetes Research Institute, and now I take no insulin,” Randi Fibus-Caster said as the dining room erupted in applause. The DRI is a pioneer in islet cell transplantation, an experimental procedure that can reverse diabetes. “I am living proof of the science and research taking place there.”
DRI Foundation President and CEO Robert A. Pearlman thanked the generous sponsors, who are helping to make continued research possible, including: The Fibus Family, Sherry and Steve Einhorn, Marion and Ira Nathan, Janet Sahr, Naomi and Dr. Mark Shapiro, Marie and Michael Bianchini, Gail and Barry Weiss, Myra and Erwin Weiss, Elaine & Allan Abrams, Iris & Harry Brener, Tripta Chawla, Dana Egert, Ruth & Michael Harshman, Phyllis & Stuart Kramer, Susan & Jim Loveman, Mutual of America, Phyllis & Cliff Seresky, Shelly & Barbara Singer, Frank Sterneck of Sterneck Capital Management, The Thomases Family Foundation, Dodie & Dean Vlassis, Penny & Jim Walzer, Merle & Richard Weidenbaum, UBS, Alpine Jaguar and Club Car.
High bidders took home attractive silent and live auction items. And a money board offered the chance to win a cruise. Standing on tip-toe at the podium, 8-year-old Josh Espinosa, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes six years ago, encouraged participation by saying, “Please buy some tickets to help the DRI cure diabetes for my friend Brooke and me!”
Brooke Miller, 13, also addressed the crowd. She explained that she has never let the disease hold her back but also declared, “I’ve been saying this for ten years…If I could have just one day without diabetes, it would truly be the happiest day of my life.”