Making Wishes

by Helen Reilly.

The self-made man wanted to celebrate his 40th birthday in a big way. It was a grand affair – an evening of celebration with friends and family in his beautiful home. There were 150 guests, four chefs, four servers, a bartender and six drivers to ensure everyone arrived home safe. When he sent out the invitations, he requested a donation to The Healing Cycle Foundation in lieu of gifts. Augi De Oliveira raised $7000 that night.

The successful business man is owner and president of World Meats Inc. – a distributer of meat products for hotels and restaurants. What started as a small shop on Bristol in Mississauga with three employees is now a thriving enterprise that employs 50 people in business units that span most of a city block.

Ask him the secret to success and he’ll tell you it’s a combination of hard work and taking pride in doing well. He says he’s ‘always on the go’ and that he’s a very good listener. “I pay attention and I look for opportunities. I take pride in doing my best and being the best I can be – I always have,” he says.

Even as a child, Augi wanted to be the best at everything he did. While raising money for a read-a-thon, he didn’t go door-to-door like the other kids where people could make excuses, saying they didn’t have loose change to spare. Instead, he visited the local shops asking vendors because the cash register was right there – how could they refuse, right?” he asks rhetorically.

He envies the innocence of children who seem to understand the concept of giving generously and encouraging others to do so. He wishes more adults would ‘get it’ the way kids do.

When Felicity Guest, former board member of The Healing Cycle Foundation approached Augi to request a discount for the meat that would feed hundreds of riders and volunteers at a BBQ on the day of the Healing Cycle ride, Augi agreed to offer a discount on some of the meat and to supply the remainder for free. “She made the request in a way that it was easy to say yes –she made me feel like I was doing something special,” he says. Still, feeling like he hadn’t done enough, he attended the Sunday event to cook for the riders and supporters.

“When I saw what it was all about that day, I was so impressed,” says Augi of the enthusiasm and the involvement of so many people at the 2010 ride. “I like the fact that 100% of proceeds from the ride go directly to palliative care. That impresses me,” he says. He was already on board but meeting volunteer Phyllis Galbraith, Corporate Relations Manager and hearing her heart-wrenching story is what confirmed for him that he was getting involved in a charity that would make a huge difference for many patients and families.

“I went home and talked to my wife because we sponsor youth sports teams and we support a variety of fundraisers, but we wanted to find a cause that we could support in a bigger way. We decided that The Healing Cycle Foundation would be the charity of choice for World Meats Inc.” he says.

When he says ‘charity of choice’ he’s not exaggerating. Since making that decision, Augi has moved forward on several fronts to benefit the foundation. He became a volunteer Corporate Sales Manager so he can encourage other corporations to support the foundation. He also committed World Meats as a gold level sponsor for the ride. His enthusiasm is contagious – World Meats Inc. sales manager Dorothy Patruno is a volunteer event planning coordinator for the ride as well. Augi still wanted to do more.

Since he works with vendors who traditionally demonstrate their generosity toward World Meats staff during the holidays, he approached them to support The Healing Cycle Foundation in June instead. With $15,000 in cash and product from vendors, World Meats hosted the entire BBQ. He brought three refrigerated trucks, enough staff, food for everyone and even manned a BBQ himself to cook for 1200 riders and volunteers at the 2011 ride. In doing so, the generous father of three active children, missed a lacrosse game, a soccer match and a hockey game that day. Luckily, his wife Agnes is as supportive of the Healing Cycle Foundation as he is, he says with a laugh.

As if that wasn’t enough, Augi encouraged his staff to participate and ride in the event to raise awareness and funds for palliative care in Ontario. He paid the entry fees for his employees to ride and made up the difference from what they raised to meet their pledge requirements. “One of my guys did the 100 km ride, so I gave him a $1000 bonus as motivation to the others to do the same next year,” he says.

Aside from the birth of his daughter on Father’s Day, 13 years ago, Augi says one of the happiest days of his life was the day his business went into the black after being in the red the first three years. Besides wanting to be the best at what he does, he wants to be in a position to give back and to inspire others to do so as well. He wishes everyone understood the importance of charity.

“It is rare to have someone come forward to help a registered charity in the way that Augi has done,” says Heather Campbell, President and CEO, The Healing Cycle Foundation. “Beyond his generous sponsorship, he has involved several of his staff as well. His level of involvement is truly inspiring to witness! Augi is respected by our volunteers at our Foundation because they recognize his passion for philanthropy and his huge heart. We couldn't have asked for a better friend."

Like many of us, Augi admits he’s afraid of dying. He doesn’t think that’s why he chose to support palliative care but he does hope that access to palliative care in Ontario improves over time as a result of the awareness and funds he is helping to raise through The Healing Cycle Foundation.

To this day, he admits he wants for nothing, but he will still not walk past a coin on the floor. “I pick it up; put it in my left pocket, and I make a wish.” His advice is to “keep making wishes – that’s what I do.”

Live. Love. Ride.