Workout warriors went through the paces on April 7 at Powerfit Personal Training in Rohnert Park to help raise money for Autism Speaks, the United States’ largest autism science and advocacy organization.

Autism Speaks gears lots of money and other resources to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Lesley Estes, whose 7-year-old niece, Sierra, is autistic, organized Saturday’s event,  dubbed a charity boot camp. This marks the third time she’s run this boot camp and the second year she’s done it at Powerfit.

On Saturday, April 14, Estes will lead her team, Sierra’s Pixies, in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks fundraising walk in Windsor.
The walk in Windsor is for teams. The goal for Sierra’s Pixies is to raise $5,000 for Autism Speaks. Pre-walk donations for the walk have totaled more than $68,000.


Those who participated in the boot camp each ponied up $20 for a one-hour workout.

“A lot of the people who are here have family members who are autistic, so a lot of people have a personal stake and interest in the workout and next week’s walk,” Estes said.

Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright, grandparents of a child with autism. Their longtime friend Bernie Marcus donated $25 million to help financially launch the organization. Saturday’s walk will be held at Windsor Town Green, located at 9291 Old Redwood Highway in Windsor.

Registration begins at 9:30 a.m., and the opening ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. The actual walk begins at 11 a.m.