Back to the Illinois Fighting Illini Newsfeed

Group honoring Champaign couple with philanthropy award

CHAMPAIGN — A Champaign couple with a track record for generosity will be honored Thursday by the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois.

Dave Downey and Jane Hays will receive the Kyle and Phyllis Robeson Philanthropy Award at the foundation's annual Hearts of Gold gala.

This is the fourth year that the philanthropy award named for the Robesons, who were the inaugural recipients, will be given.

Downey is president and founder of the Downey Group, a Champaign-based provider of advanced life insurance products and related planning services. His wife, Hays, is the firm's managing director.

The foundation considers Hays and Downey to be standouts among community givers — generous with both their time and money — according to Joan Dixon, the foundation's president and CEO.