Rochester Boy Organizes Event That Raises Thousands

In many ways, Rochester's Braydon Dion is just like many other nine-year-olds. He loves playing outside, and he loves riding his bike. In some other ways, though, Braydon is beyond his years.

Braydon has always known he wants to be a police officer. When he was seven years old, Braydon contacted Fun 107 in the hopes of asking the community to help him with his badge and patch collection. While other kids idolize professional athletes or performers, Bradyon stresses that he idolizes the everyday heroes in America's local communities.

After Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon, a New Bedford native, was shot and killed in the line of duty, Braydon launched a kids' version of the "Brotherhood Ride" back in 2019 to honor all first responders in the area. It was a mini version of the hundreds of miles long Brotherhood Ride of Southern New England that was started by his uncle, Andy Weigel.

The kids' version took place in 2019, and was a smashing success, with each child raising over $100. Then came the pandemic. It goes without saying that Braydon's event was impossible to pull off last year, but he took the setback in stride and was looking forward to his next ride.

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Instead of an entrance fee, he asked this year's riders to fundraise $25 that would be donated to the family of a fallen first responder. What he didn't predict, however, was how much the lapse year could affect a new event like the Kids' Brotherhood Ride. Braydon and his mom reached out to Fun 107 as we were heading into Memorial Day Weekend. At that point, there were only two rides signed up to participate in the fundraiser: Braydon and his brother.

Instead of giving up, Braydon worked even harder to get the word out about the ride, which took place this past Saturday, June 12, at Old Colony Voc-Tech. More than 80 children showed up to participate, earning more than $4,000 for Braydon's charity.

He shared the news with us this morning on Michael and Maddie, and wanted to say "thank you from the bottom of my heart" to all of the people that helped share the news about the Kids Brotherhood Ride.