Barrie, Ont., was the latest stop in a cross-Canada bike ride for an Alberta man looking to raise money for kids with special needs.
Matthew Devine, 56, from Edmonton, is biking across Canada — over 13,000 kilometres — to raise money for You Can Ride 2, a charity that provides bikes for children with special needs.
Devine’s Ride for Change came through the Barrie area over the weekend, where he met with kids from the Children’s Treatment Network in the city, which supports youth with disabilities and developmental needs.
“I just believe that, like adults, children need to be able to experience the joy of movement and what it brings. Movement, physicality, fitness — these are all things that we need to practice, and we need to teach our kids to adopt these philosophies because, without them, we’re going to have an ever-increasing problem around obesity, poor lifestyle,” Devine told Global News on Friday.
Devine says all of the money raised throughout his journey will stay within that province or community to help those in need within that area.
He says this also helps the organization expand their program to other parts of the country where they still need to be set up to reach more kids.
“If there isn’t a You Can Ride 2 chapter in that geography, we work with the closest thing to it in that region, and the money stays in that region,” he says.
For Devine, this is also a personal component, admitting he used to live an unhealthy lifestyle and was struggling with depression.
“I was losing motivation in life; I didn’t have a purpose anymore,” he said.
He says getting in shape and finding ways to help other people helped get him through it.
“Last summer, I decided to run 300 kilometres through the Canadian Rockies for kids, and it was just kind of an act of desperation for myself,” Devine said. “I thought, if I need to do something for myself, why don’t I try to help other people.”
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He says last year, he managed to raise $60,000 from the Alberta Rainbow Society, which provides wishes to children with severe chronic or life-threatening medical illnesses.
“It almost killed me. My toenails would come off, my feet were all banged up, but when I was finished, I realized the power each human has, not only to transform their own world but also to impact the community they live in.”
He says that experience inspired him to make this cross-Canada journey, which will include stops in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
“I want to inspire adults that are suffering with a mental condition, or maybe it’s a metabolic condition, or it could be addiction, something that they want to change in their life, and they just want to show them that an ordinary person like me to do something absolutely extraordinary.”
People wanting to support Devine’s fundraising goal can find all the details on the Ride For Change website.
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