A community leader who helps dreams come true has passed away.
One of the founders of Mio Manz Charities, Dave Batten, passed away this week.
Batten co-founded the charity in 1992 along with his friend, former NHL goalie Eddie Mio.
Since its inception in 1992, Mio Manz Charities’ Annual Celebrity Golf Benefits has raised millions of dollars to support local deserving kids with life-threatening illnesses or severe disabilities by dedicating most of the proceeds to the Sunshine Foundation of Canada while supporting several other local charities.
Mio told AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg that Dave could easily go down as the best salesman in North America.
"All the work he put into this charity and raising money for the Sunshine Foundation of Canada was amazing. You'd have to be there to see the long hours he put in. Very generous, good businessman, good family man. The list goes on," he says.
Mio says Batten would just pour everything out; when he was on a mission, he just did it.
"He fought cancer for eight years; that is not what he passed on; he ended up beating that. That just shows you the tenacity David has when he approaches anything," he says.
Mio says they raised a lot of money and also had an endowment fund that only could be used for dreams for local kids.
"You know it doesn't matter how much money we raised; we know we fulfilled a few dreams in Essex County," he says.
In 2000, Batten and Mio started the Mio Manz Endowment Fund to support dreams for local kids. The goal was to reach $1 million in ten years, with that goal achieved in 2010.
Batten was also the president of Manz Contracting Services in Windsor.