FROM:
MISSISSAUGA NEWS
SEPTEMBER 7, 2003
Philanthropist went from rags to riches Victor Deschenes:
Life well spent
BY JAN DEAN, MISSISSAUGA NEWS
officer Victor Deschenes doesn't deliver every
package by hand in a Lear Jet but he always
manages to get the goods delivered.
Over the years, Victor Deschenes has helped seven Ukrainian dwarves stranded in Toronto fly home, donated money to jockeys and helped countless children...not because they're short, but because they're short-changed.
The 52-year-old owner of Expedite Plus, a resident of Port Credit, says giving money to people who do not have it "is the proper thing to do.
"I'm fortunate. I don't owe any money, my house is paid for...I'm in a very luxurious position. A lot of people are underprivileged and I came from that."
Expedite Plus is the source of Deschenes' wealth. The company specializes in same-day emergency shipping to anywhere in the world. Deschenes still works there every day. The company he started a dozen years ago went from a revenue of $80,000 in its first year to $9 million by year three.
Not bad for a kid from Toronto who was kicked out of Grade 9 when he stole the school's United Way fund money.
Deschenes credits what he learned from working as a cab driver, dishwasher, cab dispatcher and desk clerk for making Expedite Plus a success, but he never forgets his roots.
For a time he owned a string of racehorses, but sold them when he lost "a dramatic amount of money."
Many of his charities benefit children because, Deschenes said, "Kids usually get cheated out of life and a lot of people forget about kids."
Deschenes does not forget about them. This year he was the major sponsor for the Mississauga Waterfront Festival, giving kids 7,000 whole pizzas, 50 bikes and sponsoring the volunteer appreciation dinner.
Patricia Anderson, chair of the festival said, "Victor's generosity knows no bounds when it comes to supporting children. When he knows about a child in need or a special event that requires support, he's there. Sometimes he just blows you out of the water with his generosity and he does it for the right reasons."
Anderson credits Deschenes' sponsorship with giving the Waterfront Festival the freedom to sponsor 2,000 disadvantaged children.
Ellen Timms, general manager for the Port Credit Business Improvement Association said, "Victor is wonderful. He sponsors everything. He was the presenting sponsor for the Waterfront Festival this year and he's a sponsor for the Southside Shuffle, as well. He and his wife Rosanne are a wonderful couple...they do so much for Port Credit and Mississauga."
Despite being awarded an Ontario Medal for Citizenship in 2002, Deschenes says his philanthropy does not please everybody.
"The majority of people I talk to don't appreciate what I do because it doesn't benefit them or one of their organizations," he said.
Deschenes will not contribute to the Living Arts Centre despite requests from Mayor Hazel McCallion.
"It's a great theatre but it gets public money and isn't accountable for it," he said. "I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to get the Harbourside Theatre going in Port Credit because Jessie Collins ran it without a dime of public money."
Deschenes goes his own way, donating money where he believes it will make a difference, like The Mississauga News Christmas Fund, The Hospital for Sick Children, Peel Partners for a Drug-Free Community, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Canadian Peregrine Foundation, among a host of others.
He bought 85,000 tickets to Blue Jays games this summer in response to the SARS crisis, sold them to fans for $2 apiece and then donated that money to charity.
Deschenes plans to keep on giving where he thinks it will do the most good.
"What's the point of hitting 65 and having all kinds of money? I ain't gonna have any inheritance when I go," said Deschenes. "There's an insurance policy for my family and I've prepaid my funeral with a martini bar."Copyright (c) Mississauga News
