A nine-year-old boy raising awareness for autism and money for the Grandview Kids Centre rolled into Ottawa today after a 500 km bike ride.
James Potvin and his father left Whitby, ON on Saturday on a journey to Ottawa's Mooney's Bay playground. The little boy saw the playground being constructed on TVO's The Giver program and told his parents he wanted to bike to the capital.
At first his James' parents were hesitant but after making several training rides from Whitby to downtown Toronto, his parents knew the big journey was possible.
James' goal was to raise $1,500 for Grandview Kids in Oshawa, a treatment facility that offers specialized programs for children like James who are on the Autism Spectrum. The GoFundMe page for James Rides for Grandview now has more than $5,100 in pledges. His parents say the facility is underfunded and overused with more than 3,000 children like James on the waitlist.
"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 and sadly, for a lot of these kids, that is inside the legal system and we'd rather see him have help now when he is nine and have him have a more happy and productive life," said James' dad Chris Potvin.