THUNDER BAY – For eleven years, Terry Rantala has gone the extra mile to raise money for programs geared toward improving the lives of autistic children and families.
Rantala's annual Darts for Autism tournament brought more than 30 participants to the Loyal Order Moose 844 Saturday to raise money to help pay for programs required by autistic children that are no longer covered by the government.
He said the goal is to raise as much money as possible to help the autistic kids and their families out with much needed support.
“The government took some of the funding away for certain programs that they didn’t deem necessary,” Rantala said.
“I think they are necessary, so I’m sort of trying to raise money to help that aspect of it.”
Rantala’s son was diagnosed with autism 12 years ago, and after his diagnosis Rantala created the Darts for Autism event to raise money for programming such as horseback riding and basic therapy.
“The money raised helps my son out in the fact that he can do all of these things the government sort of cut, and it’s stuff where you do things in groups, it’s the social aspect of it,” Rantala said.
“The social aspect is a big part of autism, because they don’t mix well in groups, so it gives them more opportunities to put him outside of a classroom setting.”
Rantala said through the generosity of the dart community, and the Thunder Bay area, Darts for Autism has raised approximately $32,000.
This year he hopes to add another $4,000 to that total.
