Trevisanutto Family's Philosophy All About Giving Back
Published Monday, January 6, 2020
Barbara and John Trevisanutto, along with their family and Half-Way Motors Group, proudly made a $100,000 donation to the Our Hearts At Home Cardiovascular Campaign. They recognize the importance of keeping families together when critical surgery is needed.
Half-Way Motors Group Caring for Hearts
When the Trevisanuttos see a need, they take action. Never ones to shy away from a challenge, John Trevisanutto says their family’s philosophy centers around ‘giving back’. “We’ve been involved with a number of charities for many years,” he said. “For us, it’s an opportunity to care for those in our community.”
John’s son Daniel, Partner, Half-Way Motors Group added, “Many people know our family and it’s nice to be able to act on our family’s values. When we give, it’s really a whole family endeavour and we all get behind the cause.”
The Trevisanuttos and the Half-Way Motors Group have a long history of giving in Thunder Bay. Back in 1976, they donated a car to be raffled off to raise funds for a new CAT scanner. They’ve also been involved with St. Joseph’s Heritage for many years. When the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre was being built, John became involved in the Care Beyond Compare Campaign to build the Hospital and supported the campaign with a donation. Additionally they made sure angioplasty made its way to Thunder Bay.
“One of our biggest contributions has been to the Tbaytel Ride for Dad to raise money for prostate cancer care,” he said. “In fact, over the course of five years we brought in more than $70,000 for the cause through raising pledges; something we’re very proud of.” John himself has also been part of the Board of Directors for the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation, lending his wisdom to fundraising for every area of the Hospital.
Back in 2018, the Trevisanuttos were approached by Tere McDonald who proposed that they donate to the newly-announced cardiovascular surgery program. “We made up our mind to do something pretty quickly,” said Patrick Trevisanutto, General Manager and Partner, Half-Way Motors Nissan, “and we committed to making a donation of $50,000.”
Continued Patrick, “Since we made up our minds on the $50,000, we kept seeing and hearing more about the impact of the cardiovascular surgery program. We’d see more stories and we saw the need from both staff and customers to have this surgical care here at home. Together, we agreed that we had the ability to do more, and so we did.”
Recently, the Trevisanuttos announced they would double their donation, to give $100,000 to the Our Hearts At Home Cardiovascular Campaign, and ensure that when people need life- and limb-saving surgery, that it can be performed closer to home. “If we can do something that saves someone’s life, why wouldn’t we? It’s worth it,” said Patrick. “To be able to keep families healthy and whole and together is everything.”