LEXINGTON, Ky. — For the last 31 years, on the eve of the “Run for the Roses,” the Barnstable Brown Gala has been an annual Kentucky tradition, packed with celebrities and fans, to raise money for UK Healthcare’s Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center.
"The proceeds from the party in the past 12 years have really allowed us to enhance all of those functions from the research side, all the way through the clinical care including, you know, bringing together both the adult and pediatric providers under one roof, but we've also added the education services. We've added a special program this past year for diabetes and pregnancy and we’ve been able to provide these new services because of the extra funds that come from the Barnstable Brown Gala,” explains Shawn Crouch, Administrator, Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center
The Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center was established in 2008 by twin sisters Patricia Barnstable Brown and Priscilla Barnstable, along with their mother Wilma.
In the past 12 years, the star-studded gala has raised approximately $16.7 million to combat a disease that disproportionately affects Kentucky.
While the annual gala is centered around celebrating the fastest two minutes in sports, the actual diabetes center provides services and support to last each patient an entire lifespan.
“Our four missions are clinical care, research, education and outreach and those are the areas that we focused on for the last several years and I think in most of those areas we've been quite successful,” adds Dr. John Fowlkes, director of the Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center
The Barnstable Brown family says while it was a tough decision to cancel this year’s gala because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, they are thankful for previously donated funds because they say those dollars will continue to provide much-needed support to those in need of diabetic care.