Boca Rotary adds eight OPAL awardees; honors Campbell for ‘lifetime achievement’
Photo and Story by: Dale King
For the Rotary Club of Boca Raton, its biggest night of the year comes yearly in January when the organization honors civic and community leaders with prestigious OPAL (Outstanding People and Leaders) Awards.
The 2020 event, held Jan. 18, the 22nd yearly presentation by the Rotary Club that meets at noontime each Wednesday, drew some 400 people to the Boca West Country Club where OPAL trophies were proudly handed out to eight people – three couples and two individuals.
Over the years, OPAL events have raised more than $1.5 million and empowered more than 400 high-achieving, disadvantaged local students with scholarship assistance to attend schools of higher learning.
The Rotary also presented philanthropist and tireless community benefactor Bobby Campbell with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Bobby and his wife, Barbara, were presenting sponsors for OPAL and, recently, have donated $5 million to Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence to benefit student-athletes.
The Campbells have also been major supporters of Lynn University, aiding with the construction of the Bobby Campbell Stadium, home of the school’s soccer and lacrosse programs.
In an emotional address just before Campbell received his award, OPAL co-chair Neil Saffer offered a testament to the generous donor: “Bobby Campbell motivates and inspires. In the 20-plus years I have known him, never once did I ask him for anything. He sees a need and he fills it.”
During his career, Campbell worked at his family’s bakery and later, took a job at a Kinney shoe store. He parlayed that experience into his life’s work, founding BBC International, a major children’s and athletic footwear design and sourcing company. He made his way south when he moved the firm’s headquarters to Boca Raton.
Saffer, accompanied by the event’s two other co-chairs, Jan Savarick and Spencer Siegel, handed the award to Campbell, who was sitting with his wife, Barbara, local philanthropist Christine Lynn and other people who have provided support to projects, services and assistance.
The OPAL gala is the Rotary’s red-carpet event that honors citizens from Boca Raton who have demonstrated an on-going commitment to serve the city through philanthropic, professional leadership, education, civic, community and medical service endeavors.
The awards distribution rounded out the evening that included the auction and dinner. OPAL Awards went to the following:
Toby and Leon Cooperman. Leon worked for Goldman, Sachs & Co. for 25 years. When he retired, he organized and launched an investment-management business, Omega Advisors, which he ran for 27 years before converting it to a family office at the end of 2018. At its height, Omega Advisors managed more than $10 billion of client funds. His wife held a lifelong interest in people with special needs and volunteered as an advocate on their behalf.
Jerry Kramer. He lost his mother at age 5 and his father offered little guidance. He went to work as a boy and later joined the Army, fighting in the Korean War where he received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. The OPAL award honored his success in the home and apartment construction field and his work with many charities, including one that provided rescue dogs to returning military veterans.
Doris and Neil Gillman. They have partnered with dozens of charities in Boca Raton and Pittsburgh to build a pyramid of volunteerism and philanthropy. They also support Sweet Dream Makers’ mission to provide beds to children and families in need. In the past three years, the organization has delivered 3,500 beds to people just in Palm Beach County.
For 12 years, OPAL honoree Laura Reiss has developed and expanded a free, after-school Kindness Matters program at Boca’s Sunrise Park Elementary School that has grown into the Kindness Matters 365 Foundation that educates children in the importance of being kind to themselves and others. Kindness Matters 365 has spread to nine states, with more than 500 ambassadors and 4,000 members in 90 chapters.
Yaacov and Sue Heller. Art is at the top of this OPAL couple’s agenda. Yaacov is a world-renowned sculptor, painter and silversmith whose work has been used to convey messages of hope, tolerance, acceptance, remembrance and peace. Sue is a retired art educator with more than 30 years of experience. “For Sue and Yaacov Heller, life individually, and as a couple, “has involved giving back and creating awareness through the arts and education,” said the evening’s program.
Offering comments about present and past OPAL recipients – many of whom attended this year’s event – Rotary President Vanessa Havener said: “Tonight, we are grateful to be inspired by outstanding people and leaders in our community. It’s the OPAL Society members in this room who truly change lives and build futures.”
Before the evening’s dinner, Saffer, a professional auctioneer, raised tens of thousands of additional dollars for the Rotary by encouraging the crowd to bid on a variety of items.
The prizes included a wine dinner for four at Prime Cut, a Karma Vibes Experience for 20 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, a private tour of Congress with U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, the Democratic rep who represents Boca Raton; a Cruise-on-the-Fly package from Scott Grody and Scott Grody Travel; an 18-karat gold bracelet from Gregory Fried of Gregory’s Fine Jewelry; a Costa Rica vacation and a 7-day South African adventure for two.
