A nine-year-old Ontario boy raised a lot of awareness and over $5,000 for autism by cycling 500 kilometres from Whitby, Ont. to the nation’s capital this week.
James Potvin, who has autism, thought it would be fun to bike to Ottawa to raise awareness about the disorder and in honour of Canada 150, he wanted to donate $10 for every year of Confederation to Grandview Kids Centre in Oshawa.
"If we don't help kids at James' age they are going to mature with these issues and social challenges and barriers they have and they will turn to find help where they can," said James’ father, Chris Potvin.
His bike ride, which has received a lot of attention online, started in Whitby last week. It followed the Waterfront Trail, Cataraqui Trail, and Trans-Canada Trail all the way to Mooney's Bay playground in Ottawa.
Grandview is a treatment facility that offers specialized services for children on the autism spectrum and, according to Potvin’s parents, it is underfunded and has more than 3,000 children on the wait list to receive services.
Potvin has been on the list for two years.
At first, his parents were hesitant to let Potvin make such a long trip, but after several training rides from Whitby to downtown Toronto, his parents decided that the 500 kilometres journey was possible.
Potvin and his dad finished their ride on Friday and managed to raise $5,505, according to their GoFundMe page.
“For us and for him, it’s been a big confidence builder and he’s very proud of the money he’s raised,” mother, Leslie Potvin, told CTV Ottawa. "I think he is going to have a huge story to tell and he's going to go into class with a story and I think that's huge for him," she added.
With files from CTV Ottawa’s Annie Bergeron-Oliver
