Dozens gathered at Bud Miller All Seasons Park to walk in support of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) awareness.

The June 14 event, hosted by the Filipino Canadian Association of Lloydminster Ltd (FilCal) in partnership with Inclusion Lloydminster, returned for its second year.

Read more: Awareness walk returns to Lloydminster

“This is our second year doing the Walk for ASD Awareness,” said Leo Aguinaldo, spokesperson for FilCal. “We’re partnering with Inclusion Lloydminster to create an event people would come and enjoy, participate and walk 5 km or 10 km.”

Aguinaldo explained the goal is to raise awareness of the “happy battles and unique journey of families with ASD members.”

“We do not get any of that money. We are an instrument for this fundraising,” he said, noting 100 per cent of the $20 registration fee goes directly to Inclusion Lloydminster.

Last year’s event raised $2,000 and organizers hoped to beat that number this time.

This year, a local family also set up a lemonade stand at the park with proceeds supporting Inclusion Lloydminster.

Mayor Gerald Aalbers praised the event’s message.

“The walk speaks for itself,” he said. “We have people in our community, I have a godson who’s got autism, I think it’s important.”

He also thanked the Filipino community for organizing the event.

“It always takes volunteers. You’ll see a lot of their volunteers here today working with community volunteers to ensure we have a successful walk and awareness,” he said, adding the city supports events like this to promote inclusion.

“Our city is a diverse group of people. It doesn’t matter your race or where you’ve come from, you’re a member of the community.”

Aguinaldo shared one final hope for those taking part.

“We would like to have people be catalysts of building bridges and make sure that acceptance is the key,” he said.

Read more: Filipino culture celebrated in Lloyd