{"id":7262,"date":"2014-07-02T18:11:46","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T22:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=7262"},"modified":"2014-07-09T17:14:25","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T21:14:25","slug":"riders-bring-big-bucks-to-kerrys-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/riders-bring-big-bucks-to-kerrys-place\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRiders\u201d bring big bucks to Kerry\u2019s Place"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before Brian Baynit\u2019s nephew was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, he didn\u2019t claim to know very much about anything that could be found on the autism spectrum.<\/p>\n

The same cannot be said today. Since then, he and his friends threw themselves head-long into doing what they could to help those families who are struggling with this group of neurological disorders, raising thousands for the Aurora-based Kerry\u2019s Place Autism Services in the process.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re thinking they did this through a relatively sedate fundraiser, you would be mistaken. He and his motorcycle group, the Lost Boyz, kicked things up several notches with a charity ride and wash for the local non-profit, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.<\/p>\n

Over the past four years, their events have featured car washes, activities for the whole family, and daredevil motorcycle stunts (performed by the professionals, of course), but their most recent efforts have brought in record-busting revenues for Kerry\u2019s Place, an organization which has spread to homes and learning centres throughout southern Ontario.<\/p>\n

The Lost Boyz will be on hand this Saturday at Town Park to present a cheque to Kerry\u2019s Place at the organization\u2019s annual Volunteer Appreciation Event, held in conjunction with the Aurora Farmers\u2019 Market. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe support Kerry\u2019s Place because they serve you from when you are young all the way to when you are old,\u201d explains Baynit. \u201cThey have different things to educate kids like camps, and they help with respite services so parents can still have a life and accomplish what they need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oftentimes people living with autism experience a degree of stigma because individuals at large might not understand the many facets of the disorder. Stigma often paves the way to stereotype, and these are issues Kerry\u2019s Place has sought to challenge. In this vein, the Lost Boyz have found an additional affinity with the group. <\/p>\n

One of the reasons the Lost Boyz wanted to get involved in their respective communities \u2013 members live in York Region, Toronto, and Peel \u2013 was to challenge some of the \u201cstigma\u201d surrounding bikers. They prefer the term \u201criders\u201d and, as such, they are just a group of guys wanting to spend some time together in a group doing what they love. Sometimes, however, due to the way they dress or their preferred mode of travel, they can be viewed as \u201capart\u201d from the community, he explains. <\/p>\n

This is not the case at Kerry\u2019s Place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came into Kerry\u2019s Place to speak to them about doing events and supporting them, it seems like a family over there,\u201d he says. \u201cThey welcomed me with open arms and they didn\u2019t judge me at all in any way. We want to show people we are part of the community, and just a bunch of guys trying to ride our bikes together. We want to have a good impact on the community, and that is what we\u2019re trying to accomplish. Slowly but surely, it will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with so many things, the origins of the name \u201cLost Boyz\u201d for this group have been lost to the mists of time, but over that time it has taken on a significant meaning for them. \u201cGet lost!\u201d has become their slogan, and something they use liberally in any instance in which they find discrimination and prejudice. <\/p>\n

It is message they have been trying to impart to those who attend their events each year and one Banyit says has gained traction. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith so many members of the group, we reach different areas and keep building that group of people as years go on,\u201d he says. \u201cIt has reached down to kids that are four or five years old; the father might ride the bike and mom brought the kids just to have fun. We have actually had grandparents come and they love watching the stunt show and the bikes flying around the parking lots. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt ranges from four to 90, so there is no limit for us! Last year, we had $1,500 for Kerry\u2019s Place and right now it is beyond $3,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 7th Annual Kerry\u2019s Place Appreciation Day will get underway at Town Park this Saturday, July 5, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Events feature Art In The Park, food from the Optimist Club of Aurora, and other activities. For more information, visit www.kerrysplace.org.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before Brian Baynit\u2019s nephew was diagnosed with Asperger\u2019s Syndrome, he didn\u2019t claim to know very much about anything that could be found on the autism spectrum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2014-07-03-01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-1T8","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 10:31:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}