Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa

Conquest
of a
I first interviewed Augie Nieto in October 2005, seven months after he’d been
diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
We talked in a small local restaurant near his home on Balboa Island, a tranquil oasis
30 minutes down the coast from Los Angeles. The effects of ALS were just beginning to
make themselves outwardly apparent. An occasional slurred word, the simple challenge
of balancing food on a fork, showed that his muscles were disconnecting from their motor
neurons and, progressively, losing their ability to function.
While he spoke about many things that day—his beloved family, his legendary career with
Life Fitness, his strong and enduring enthusiasm for the industry—it was clear that he’d
embarked on a new mission. A line had been drawn in the sand. Since then, Augie has been
marshalling his most precious resources—his time, energy, and passion—to wage an all-out
war against a devastating and incurable disease that has confounded scientists for well over
a century.
To do so, he needed to raise money—lots of it, and fast.
The result of his decision, and determination, is an ambitious and unique initiative
known as Augie’s Quest (AQ).
Identifying a new path
The fund-raising target was $18 million, and the time allotted, a mere 36 months. It
was an audacious goal to be sure, but not unfamiliar territory for the cofounder of Life
Fitness. But, before the campaign could get under way in earnest, Augie had to make
a critical decision: to set up his own foundation… or to partner with the Muscular Dystrophy
Association (MDA).
Augie wanted the money to go where it would do the most good, and the MDA
certainly had all of the necessary components in place. It was the world’s largest
underwriter of ALS research and operated the most ALS patient clinics in the country.
An admitted neophyte, Augie immersed himself in the worlds of fund-raising and
medical research. He set up a focus group and asked people what they thought about
the MDA. >
62 Club Business International | MARCH 2008 | www.ihrsa.org
Courtesy of MDA