For the 30th year, the Father’s Day Council Tucson will honor outstanding local dads during the Annual Father of the Year Awards Gala Dinner.
The annual event will be held at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, May 31 at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Drive.
It is more than a tribute to role models who balance careers, fatherhood and civic involvement: It is also a fundraiser that has funneled more than $3.7 million into support of an endowment and research at the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center in an effort to eradicate type 1 diabetes.
“Being able to honor successful and well-respected dads and business men is always a blessing and it is huge honor to have their support,” said Jim Wood, board member for Father’s Day Council Tucson.
Father of the Year Honorees for 2025 include Dr. Eric Cornidez, Managing Partner with Pain Institute of Southern Arizona; UA Head Basketball Coach Tommy Lloyd; Jim Tofel, Managing Member of Tofel Dent Construction; and Kaukaha “K” Watanabe, Team Lead of exp Realty.
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Wood emphasized that the honorees are key in helping to promote awareness about the all-volunteer Father’s Day Council and its mission to support Steele Children’s Research.
“The most important thing we do is spread the word about who we are, what we do, and why we do it. More often than not, everyone comes away with an entirely new respect for Dr. (Fayez) Ghishan and his incredible team at Steele,” Wood said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 2 million Americans have type 1 diabetes; in 2024 approximately 20,000 children and 42,000 adults were diagnosed with the disease nationwide. Each year, more than 700 patients with type 1 diabetes are treated at the Angel Wing Clinic for Children with Diabetes. The clinic is the first ADA pediatric clinic in Southern Arizona for children with diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
Go to https://e.givesmart.com/events/I5X/ to make an donation to benefit Father’s Day Council Tucson and support research into type 1 diabetes.
