Nick Savona and Jos Schmitt, chair of Bay Street Rides FAR.Supplied
The organizer: Nick Savona
The pitch: Raising $5,600 and climbing
The cause: The Autism Science Foundation
Nick Savona has contributed to a lot of charities over the years but when he came across an event dedicated to raising money for research into autism he felt a special connection.
Mr. Savona’s son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome as a child and the family struggled to find support. “He’s not high on the spectrum but we saw the challenges dealing with schools, school boards, with the Ontario government,” recalled Mr. Savona, who is the chief compliance officer at Toronto-based Independent Trading Group and Newton Crypto. “No one really knew what to do about autism in general.”
His son is now 23 and doing fine but Mr. Savona knows many families with autistic children who are facing bigger challenges. So when he had a chance last year to participate in the Bay St. Rides FAR, for autism research, he signed up. He quickly became a top fundraiser and joined the organization’s board of directors.
The annual event is held in October and participants can either cycle 50, 20 or 10 kilometres, or join a five-kilometre walk. Around 130 people participated this year and they raised $115,000 in total.
The ride originated in New York 11 years ago and it has recently spread to Baltimore and Toronto. All of the money raised goes to the Autism Research Foundation, a U.S. charity founded by Alison Singer whose daughter has autism.
“The funds that we raise in Canada we want to invest in Canadian research,” Ms. Singer said. “The research on autism that’s happening in Canada is some of the best that’s happening anywhere in the globe.”
Mr. Savona is already making plans for next year’s ride and he’s been overwhelmed by the support he has received from colleagues in the financial industry. “I don’t think there’s anyone I’ve spoken to that hasn’t said, ‘You don’t see a lot of fundraising for autism research.’”
And he’s already set a goal for himself. He raised $5,600 this year, and plans to double that amount next year.