Boca Raton, FL (February, 2005) — Boca Raton residents Carole and Barry Kaye are perhaps best known for the incomparable collection of miniatures they’ve amassed and donated to the Naples Museum of Art in Naples, Florida. While this philanthropic couple has enchanted visitors from around the world through their love of diminutive art, many will attest that their hearts are anything but small.
On Saturday evening, February 5, the Kayes demonstrated their ongoing altruism by hosting a dinner reception in their magnificent St. Andrews home for major donors of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) Foundation, which they, too, have become.
The more than 50 guests began their evening with light cocktails and sumptuous passed hors d’oeuvres from Chez Gourmet, while having the opportunity to wander room to room to admire the couple’s extensive, contemporary art collection.
Dotted throughout the home were distinctive pieces by such illustrious artists as Botero, Caulder, Chagall, Dubuffet, Leger, and Miro, among others. Equally, if not more, captivating was the vast sculpture garden, housing life-size works, including Dine’s, Beaumont, Segal, and Chadwick, and accented by an elegant reflection pool sprinkled with water lilies.
Before moving into dinner, DRI Foundation President and CEO Robert A. Pearlman extended sincere gratitude to the Kayes, and thanked everyone in attendance for their generous support of the diabetes research foundation.
“Carole and Barry, on behalf of all of us at the Diabetes Research Institute and Foundation, I want to thank you for generously opening your home and graciously hosting this evening for us,” said Mr. Pearlman. “All of you here tonight are part of a very special group of people who are the backbone of this diabetes organization. Without the involvement of people like you, our major contributors, the DRI could not have made such strides in research. While we have come very far toward our ultimate goal, our job will not be done until we finally cure diabetes. Your continued support will help us fulfill this mission.”
The Kayes warmly welcomed the guests, and particularly thanked Dr. Camillo Ricordi, DRI scientific director, and his team for their tireless commitment and focus on curing this disease. Mr. Kaye, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few years ago, is a patient at the DRI’s Eleanor and Joseph Kosow Diabetes Treatment Center.
“It is a pleasure for Carol and I to hold this dinner for the DRI, a place that is doing the most cutting-edge work toward a cure. Dr. Ricordi and the other scientists and physicians are making tremendous progress, and this will help millions of people,” he said. “We are so pleased to welcome all of you to our home, which we built specifically to host events for so many worthwhile causes, like the DRI.”
The Kayes are not only Founders of the DRI Foundation, but they have gone above and beyond by taking out a $1 million life insurance policy that will benefit the diabetes foundation and institute. “Life insurance is simply an asset, an opportunity to leave more to our heirs and favorite charities,” said Mr. Kaye, who is an expert if the field of life insurance and a best-selling author. “Other investments can be up or down at the time of death; however, life insurance is irrevocable and tax deductible, and it guarantees a specified amount to the DRI.”
In 2003, the Kayes served as Honorary Chairmen of the 29th Annual Love and Hope Ball, one of the longest running galas in Miami, after having attended the event for several years. They are also involved with a number of other charities and community organizations. “My wife and I believe that we have a responsibility – whether it’s cultural, medicinal, or educational – to provide for charities, so that our children and our grandchildren can survive,” said Mr. Kaye. “We have always felt very strongly that anyone who has enjoyed success and wealth has an obligation to give something back,” he said. “If we don’t, who will?”
ABOUT THE DIABETES RESEARCH INSTITUTE
The Diabetes Research Institute, a center of excellence at the University of Miami School of Medicine, is a recognized world leader in cure-focused research. Pioneering new technologies in islet cell transplantation and other cellular therapies since the early 1970’s, the DRI has successfully reversed diabetes in patients involved in ongoing clinical trials. For the millions of families affected by diabetes who are looking to the world of science for answers, the DRI is the best hope for a cure.
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Media contact:
Lori Weintraub, APR
(954) 964-4040
lweintraub@drif.org