Humble Beginnings Breeds Business Success and Community Activism in Support of Diabetes

The notion that one person can make a difference in the lives of many has never been more true than with Aurelio Garcia, kmG Hauling’s Chief Executive Officer and his family. Nearly 50 years ago, Aurelio single-handedly built a successful business and then came back again to build another business with his son, Hugo, the company’s Founder and President. Along the way, Aurelio and the Garcia family found passion in building a family company, but never forgot about community and the importance to give back to others, including those living with diabetes.

Aurelio’s story began in Ecuador where, as a young boy, he met the woman he would begin dating at age 14 and who would later become his wife. She moved to the United States in 1968 and returned to her native county in the early 1970s to marry Aurelio and begin their new life here in the states. From the moment Aurelio arrived in this country he was a hard worker and entrepreneur in the making. He worked three jobs in the 1970s including parking cars for a French Restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C. While working nearly 20 hours each day, his hard work put Aurelio in the right place at the right time when he struck up a conversation with a man whose car, he was parking. That man was an executive with Miller Brewing and would help inspire Aurelio on his path to create his own company.

Mr. Garcia served as a Miller Brewing truck driver during the 1970s and was recognized as a top driver near the end of the decade. With a fire to venture out and create his own business, Aurelio started Garcia Inc. with just one truck and grew his hauling company into a multi-million-dollar juggernaut with more than a dozen trucks by the late 1980s. Regrettably, he turned operations over to an associate so he could spend time with his family. This decision would unfortunately crumble the company, thus forcing Aurelio out of the hauling business and back to simpler times.

With a commitment to family, faith and community as his core guiding principles, Aurelio and Hugo would not let these circumstances hold them back. Hugo had been a successful member of the Washington Commanders training team with an eye for business and Aurelio was a charismatic entrepreneur who knew how to sell his business model. Together, they would re-establish their company’s business and a new venture was born. More than two decades ago, the father and son team created kmG Hauling (the initials honoring Hugo’s children’s names). Their family-owned enterprise not only values its employees and customer, but its community.

So where does diabetes fit in this conversation? In 2007, while home in Ecuador, Aurelio was drinking water to excess and knew something was wrong. Upon a visit to his doctor, he was diagnosed with diabetes. Once again, taking a challenging situation and turning it into a positive movement, kmG Hauling began wrapping their trucks with important community health-related communications, including messages about diabetes. The trucks which traverse Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland help raise awareness of the disease and how people can get involved in fighting the diabetes which afflicts 30 million people int the U.S, including 1.5 million children and adults living with type 1.

kmG is now partnering with JDRF for National Diabetes Awareness month, which begins on November 1! kmG plans to help spread the word about the warning signs of the disease and how the community can come together to support children and adults living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. kmG will also be a part of the JDRF One Walk on the National Mall on Sunday, May 19, 2024. The company’s diabetes wrapped trucks will help engage the community in the larger conversation about diabetes and give both kids and adults an opportunity to experience the fun of sitting in a hauling truck and understanding how it operates.

For more information on JDRF in our community and type 1 diabetes, visit: https://www.jdrf.org/midatlantic/

For more information on the2024 JDRF One Walk, Washington, D.C. visit: http://walk.jdrf.org/WashingtonDC