Ottawa father and son duo raise thousands for autism supports

An Ottawa charity has received an outpouring of donations after a father and son duo turned their passion for woodworking into a way to raise money for autism supports.

"What I'm really grateful for is the fact that people recognize that what I'm trying to do is help out the various special needs kids and special needs communities," said Jonathan Crone, owner of Distinctive Woodworking.

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For years, he's worked alongside his son Kieran, who has autism. It's been a passion project for himself and a way for his son to gain valuable life skills.

The duo turns wood destined for the fire into beautiful works of art, including spice mills, bowls and pens.

"In terms of autistic and special needs kids, there are so many different areas and skills," said Crone. "It's a matter of spending the time to help the child develop those skills and then giving them the opportunity to thrive and that's really what I'm hoping to provide an example of here."

Together they are raising money for Ausome Ottawa, with a portion of their proceeds from online sales and local markets from their business Distinctive Woodworking.

In the past month, there's been an outpouring of support with donations coming in from across the country, totalling thousands of dollars.

"We run exclusively on donations and grants from community organizations," said Liisa Vexler, founder of Ausome Ottawa. "Donations are really what help us run so they are absolutely critical."

It's a charity Kieran has since aged out of, but one his dad holds near and dear to his heart.

"There are kids as little as three and four years old who are getting the opportunity to thrive and really get amazing opportunities thanks to the work they're doing," said Crone.

Ausome Ottawa says the money that has been donated will go towards its skating program, helping children with autism learn to skate.