Each year, the Greater Arkansas Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) hosts a gala to raise funds to “find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research.”
The gala is also an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of individuals who work to benefit the community. Past recipients include Sharon Allen, former president and COO, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and a 2008 AY Powerful Woman, and Ray Dillon, president and CEO, Deltic Timber Corporation.
This year the organization will honor Lisenne Rockefeller with its Living and Giving Award. Rockefeller is most often recognized as the widow of Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller. What is less known is that she serves on several boards, including The Nature Conservancy and Easter Seals Arkansas, and is dedicated to the wellbeing and education of youth. Her desire to see all children, including those with learning challenges, receive a quality education led her, along with her husband, to establish the Academy at Riverdale.
“Win and I have a son with Down’s Syndrome,” Rockefeller said. “While our public schools do a great job, they cannot be expected to be all things to all children; we wanted our son to be in an environment focused on his needs.” The Academy at Riverdale was established in 2003 and provides services for children in kindergarten to 12th grade. They offer a full curriculum with a focus on math and reading along with instruction in life and social skills for children with developmental disabilities. “While some of our students are highly functioning, many tend to be isolated and don’t know how to fit in. They are not children with behavior problems,” Rockefeller said. “They simply need an environment that is child-focused.” She stressed the need for a parent-teacher team. “Teaching is hard work. If you do a good job, it’s labor intensive and if that includes pediatric therapy, it’s even harder. You have to do that, be entertaining, make sure the kids have fun and meet their needs.” Two of the Rockefellers’ five children, Grace and John, attend the school. Rockefeller said the transition to being a single parent has been an adjustment, “It’s a real juggling act.”
As a single parent, Rockefeller has learned to prioritize — “some things get dropped” — and family, as it was when husband Win was alive, remains priority No. 1. She and the children, as one would expect, miss him terribly.
“My husband was a hilarious and quirky man. We laugh about him all the time,” Rockefeller said. “He was very involved in their lives … he cooked breakfast for them each morning … not a little breakfast, but a full-out breakfast. He did Boy Scouts. Now, I do Boy Scouts, which I never did — I am not an outdoors person. Will [the Rockefellers’ older son] is very good about doing the outdoor stuff with his brothers.” Rockefeller remembers fondly the 23 years she and Win were married and is happy to work on projects that were dear to him and that help keep his memory alive. “Win was an inspiration to others. While we were in Seattle [for Win’s bone marrow transplants] — we planned to be there three months, it ended up being a year — he’d be out walking the hallways. The doctors encourage the patients to walk. He’d stop by the doors of other patients and insist that they get up and walk. One of those patients, who had the same thing Win had, has trekked the Himalayas.” Several months after Win lost his battle with the bone marrow disorder, Dr. J. Suen, former director of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Caner Institute called Rockefeller and asked if the institute could be named in Win’s honor “I am honored that they did this in his honor,” Rockefeller said. The center was renamed the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute in 2007. Rockefeller, who referred to single parenthood as a juggling act, was handed an additional “ball” last year when John, 17, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. A family friend who has diabetic children noticed his behavior and suggested he be tested. “Type 1 diabetes is all consuming. You cannot stop thinking about it. You must monitor your blood sugars; a blood sugar that is too high or too low can damage your kidney, cause a stroke or even death,” Rockefeller said. She and John must calculate the amount of carbohydrates and sugars in each meal.
Type 1 diabetes, according to JDRF literature, is an autoimmune disease — the pancreas does not work at all — that is irreversible. It strikes suddenly, without warning and often in childhood. Persons with Type 1 diabetes must use insulin. As many as 3 million Americans may have Type 1 diabetes. The JDRF is the world’s largest charitable organization for Type 1 diabetes; they provided $174 million to diabetes research in 2009. There are more than 120 chapters worldwide. Rockefeller’s involvement with JDRF began before John’s diagnosis. She is a longtime friend of R. Renay Dean, executive director, Greater Arkansas Chapter, JDRF. “Renay and I are good friends. She taught me to drive. I always try to be supportive of anything she does … I’m always along for the drive,” Rockefeller said. Dean said of Rockefeller, “Lisenne is so caring and genuine. She’s the same as she was years ago and anything that she does, she does from the heart. I really could not be more proud of her and all the work she does.”
The 2010 JDRF Gala will be held at 5:30 p.m., April 17. The evening will include silent and live auctions, including the FundACure Auction, in which all the proceeds benefit research and are 100 percent tax deductible; cocktails; a seated dinner; a program, during which Rockefeller will be honored; and dancing to the band Crisis!
In years past, Rockefeller has participating in fundraising events for the JDRF, including the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. This year’s walk will be at the Big Dam Bridge in Little Rock, Ark., Sept. 18. For more information, log onto jdrf.org/greaterarkansas or call (501) 217-0321.
