Gulfshore Life’s Man and Woman of the Year recipients: Jay and Patty Baker

Gulfshore Life’s annual Men and Women of the Year award highlights outstanding members of the Southwest Florida Community.

In a town filled with generous philanthropists, there is arguably one couple who stands out.

WINK News Anchor Lindsey Sablan sat down with Jay and Patty Baker as they embarked on their latest gift that is creating another opportunity for local Southwest Floridians.

The couple graciously donated money to build a new orthopedic surgery center in Naples for the doctors they know all too well.

“I couldn’t get off the floor. They had a pick me up, put me in a wheelchair. I was in such pain,” said Jay Baker.

Jay had back surgery in New York in 2013, and now thanks to the couple’s $20 million capital campaign, part of the team that helped Jay will come down here to Naples.

The couple’s faces are plastered on several buildings throughout the area, including the Gulfshore Playhouse, the Kizzie Theater and a Naples senior center.

Jay who was the former President of Kohl’s, helped grow the business from 40 stores to 350 now, alongside Patty. Both have since spent decades giving back to the community.

“One of the other things I really enjoy is we have students at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York visit,” said Patty. “We see them twice a year, and that is such a high to sit down with them.”

Baker had donated to the school to help it expand and endowed 40 scholarships in perpetuity.

The couple often sit on boards of the organizations they give to, with Patty still producing shows for Broadway.

“We’re living our legacy. Because we see where the money’s going, how it’s helping people. There’s nothing that compares, knowing that people are being served by something had a hand in,” said Patty.