A nerve wracking elevator ride, 12 stories above the ground, and 110 feet up, nearly 40 willing participants repelled off of the roof of the Hilton hotel in College Station today. The wind was blowing, and the crowd down below was massive, but no amount of fear could stop these adrenaline junkies from taking that steep plunge, Over the Edge.
This crowd of participants didn’t choose to take place in today’s repelling event just for fun alone, but to also support an annual fundraiser called Over the Edge. Over the Edge is a well-known event hosted by a nonprofit organization called United Way of Brazos Valley. UWBV strives to fight for the health, education, financial stability, and social growth of the community.
While this nonprofit organization has been around for quite a few years, September 2017 is only the second year for Over the Edge to take place. Even though this event is just beginning to place its roots in the Brazos Valley region, it easily exceeds its purpose and goal of raising funds for UWBV’s cause.
To take place in this event, hopeful participants create an online fundraising sight, and share it amongst their friends and family asking for donations. While the final total of funds raised by this year’s Over the Edge event has not been released yet, we do know that participants exceeded their personal financial goals.
Jon Osborn, this year’s winner, raised $1700 dollars all in his first 24 hours of fundraising. Jon works as an engineer for Cross Texas Transmission in Amarillo, Texas, and came to College Station specifically for this event. “We enjoy giving to the community in various ways, and we try to do it as often as possible.”
Jon said that his tactic for achieving this number of donations was simply just by emailing all of his contacts. “I was blown away by the support that I received in raising these funds. The generosity completely poured in, and it was overwhelming.” Jon’s team from CTT also made the trip from Amarillo to come support him at this event. “The team is very encouraging,” says Jon, “I wasn’t scared about repelling though, I’m an adrenaline junky. Once you get onto the edge, it’s all down-hill from there.”
Today’s event even had a visitor all the way from Shreveport, Louisiana. Lee A. Jeter, Sr. came to today’s event to learn more about Over the Edge, and he intends to host an event quite similar in Louisiana on October 7fundraising and building homes for citizens with low incomes. For more information on this fundraising event, you can go to www.fullercenternwla.org
Kim Schaums, the Executive Director of Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach and a Board Member of UWBV, was also in attendance today. The APO and UWBV have been partnership agencies since 2008. “United Way of Brazos Valley brings all of us together,” she said “Because of this organization, I have made lifelong friends through selfless and successful service.”