Hamilton Spotlight

By JENNIFER P. HENDERSON

Frenchman’s Creek Women for Scripps Research

A POWERFUL, FEMALE-LED FORCE FOR SCIENCE

Enveloped by 30 lush, green acres in Palm Beach County is the three-building Florida enclave of Scripps Research. The Scripps setting is picturesque, to be sure, yet it does not entirely reflect the profound work conducted within its walls: One of the most influential institutions in the world, Scripps develops and delivers medical breakthroughs to better human health around the world.

One of two Scripps campuses (the other is in La Jolla, California), the Jupiter location was founded in 2004, completed in 2009, and “serves as an anchor for scientific research in Florida.” Since it opened its doors, Scripps Florida has brought together an elite cadre of investigative and staff scientists, along with educators, executives, and graduate students, to collaborate on understanding and ultimately devising effective treatments for all manner of disease from Alzheimer’s to HIV to breast cancer. It is critical work, beyond what many are able to comprehend—but the passion and promise of the scientists at its forefront was enough to inspire a desire to help speed their progress in Lisette Siegel, wife of Hamilton Jewelers President and C.E.O. Hank Siegel.

“When Hank and I bought our home at Frenchman’s Creek, in Palm Beach Gardens, my husband’s aunt invited us to come to an event at Scripps one evening,” Siegel says. “And we were blown away by what we saw and who we met. All of these amazing things were happening right down the road from where we lived. The idea of it all was astounding. I still get goose bumps when I think about it.”

The goose-bump-inducing interactions included learning how Scripps scientists were doing things like engineering our own immune systems to attack and defeat cancer, to developing new, virtually pain-free therapies as alternatives to traditional chemotherapies—and most importantly, bringing us closer than ever before to a cure for one of the most terrifying diseases of the modern age.

The evening at Scripps was a turning point for the Siegels, who were already well known in their Palm Beach and Princeton communities (where their businesses are located) for their generous support of several philanthropic endeavors. However, after touring the labs and speaking with some of the scientists, Siegel knew writing a check was simply not enough. She reached out to a group in her new community, who were organizing golf and tennis events, as well as card games to raise funds for Scripps and its breast-cancer research. As the coterie of female benefactors moved forward year by year, they expanded their support to include research on all women’s cancers, and renamed themselves the Frenchman’s Creek Women for Cancer Research.

Siegel worked on the organizing committee for years, and then was asked to be a chairperson alongside colleagues Marcia Levy and Judith Cosentino. Each January, the group would kick off its giving with a slate of events including house tours, car shows, and fashion shows with Neiman Marcus that culminated in a golf outing and luncheon where guests were able to sit with the lab scientists to learn first-hand about the incredible work happening at Scripps. The work the Frenchman’s Creek Women for Cancer Research were doing was tireless, but so was their commitment to their cause.

And then came 2020—the year that brought challenges and change that no one ever could have anticipated. Although the pandemic impacted the Frenchman’s Creek Women’s ability to hold their quintessential in-person fundraising events, it did not diminish their pledge to support Scripps.

“It was tough. We could not hold our usual events,” Siegel says. “But the community really came through when we decided to host a virtual kickoff in January. It was proof positive that when neighbors join forces for good, anything is possible—even during a pandemic.”

The new virtual platform marked another important transition, too, when the organization changed its name to the Frenchman’s Creek Women for Scripps Research and expanded its “tent of giving” beyond cancer research to include neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, and ALS, as well. Siegel feels the past year has further underscored why giving to research facilities like Scripps who are producing new treatments and therapies for devastating diseases continues to be of the utmost importance.

“This whole endeavor started as a fun way to raise money for breast cancer research,” Siegel says. “But it has become so much more than that.”

Indeed, it has: Over the past 11 years, Frenchman’s Creek Women for Scripps Research has raised more than $2 million for the Florida campus, including recently contributing to an innovative new cancer treatment; currently, the group funds fellows in five different labs doing research in cancers and neuroscience. And although Siegel recently stepped down from her position as chairperson of the organization, her commitment to Scripps remains steadfast.

“I have seen in real time the amazing discoveries that are changing the lives of people with cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Scripps is the place where cures begin,” she says. “I will always be there for support. I will never give up working for Scripps.”

Hank and Lisette Siegel