Vaughan Chamber of Commerce honours 12 local businesses for excellence
Anna and Nick De Luca, owners of N. De Luca Plumbing Inc., were honoured with the Philanthropic Business Person of the Year award.
Yorkregion.com
April 10, 2017
By Adam Martin-Robbins
A dozen local firms were feted for excellence in their fields at the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards on April 6.
Anna and Nick De Luca, owners of N. De Luca Plumbing Inc., were honoured with the Philanthropic Business Person of the Year award.
They were recognized for their generous efforts to give back, in particular through Nicky’s Dream Foundation.
The foundation is named after their son who died of a heart attack, at age 26, a day before a meeting he’d set up with SickKids to explore opportunities to do charitable work in support of the renowned hospital.
Following his death, Anna, Nick Sr. and their three daughters, Daniela, Melissa and Andrea, made it their mission to live out Nicky’s dream.
It started with a request for donations to SickKids cardiology department in lieu of flowers for his funeral, which raised nearly $40,000.
Shortly afterward, the De Luca family formed Nicky’s Dream Foundation to have a greater impact by supporting the Labatt Family Heart Centre at SickKids to help children requiring life-saving treatments and operations.
The family hosts, in alternating years, fundraising golf tournaments and gala events on Nicky’s November birthday.
To date, the foundation has raised almost $2 million.
The 28th annual Business Achievement Awards set a record with nearly 300 nominees.
The other winners were:
- Small Business, Under 25 Employees: Great To Hear Inc.
- Young Entrepreneur Under 40: John Amendola, snapd Newspaper & Our Brands Media
- Consumer Business/ Retail: Seacore Seafood Inc.
- Construction Services & Product: G&L Group
- Environmental Leadership: H2Flow Equipment Inc.
- Manufacturing In Innovation: Macrodyne Technologies Inc.
- Non-Profit/ Charity: Sponsor: Meta Centre
- Hospitality & Entertainment: Reptilia Inc.
- Professional Services: Masters Insurance Limited
- Restaurants & Food Services: Grazie Ristorante
- Builders, Developers & General Contractors: OPUS Homes
“I want to congratulate all the nominees and the 12 winners of this year’s Business Achievement Awards,” said Brian Shifman, Vaughan Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.
“The quality and variety of businesses that were nominated for awards this year was outstanding. It is clear that Vaughan has a growing number of unique, world-class companies,” he said.
