SASKATOON -- The new year will be starting with a gruelling bike ride spanning three provinces for a Saskatoon man.

Iliajah Pidskalny is trying to raise awareness about drug overdoses and homelessness.

He has biked across the country for about six years. In that time has met many people who have issues with drugs which made him consider how he could help.

He has kicked off Cycle To Stop the Harm.

The idea came to him on a recent bike trip in Quebec.

“I’ve been thinking about this for years. When it got quite cold in Quebec and I remembered being fed up with it and I said enough is enough, I don’t like being cold. But it clicked that there are so many people who don’t have that choice to decide to stop being homeless or addicted to drugs.”

His bike will be a lifeline for about 30 days when he sets out from Saskatoon on Jan. 1 to Alberta and British Columbia.

The money he raises will go to Moms Stop The Harm. He has started a Go Fund Me Page with a goal of $20,000.

Marie Agioritis lost her 19-year-old son five years ago to a drug overdose. She is now a member of Moms Stop The Harm.

“It’s really cool when you have someone like Iliajah, going, you know what, what’s in it for me, nothing, but he’s putting himself out there to help other people,” Agioritis told CTV News.

One of the main goals of the organization is to change what she says are outdated perceptions about overdosing.

“The antiquated idea of a Hollywood version of a morally defunct human crawling down an alley to get a needle to stick in their arm isn’t the real picture. These old paradigms that often as a community or politically we are buying into, are not saving anyone. It’s in fact, creating more problems.”

Pidskalny’s parents say they’re extremely proud of their son, but know that it will be a tough send-off to start 2021.

“As a mom you just never stop worrying, and I know he’s a very capable human being, very capable,” Karen Pidskalny said.

Given the winter conditions, Pidskalny will have to be more organized with a few concerns on his mind.

“Hypothermia, that’s all I can say. What’s wet? What’s damp? Will it dry? And is it too cold?”

He says he likely won’t have a working phone for a lot of the trip, because getting electricity will be tricky as he’s sleeping in his tent along the route.

He is hoping to plug in at a grocery store or gas station somewhere so he can call his family and update his social media pages along the way.