Newark, NJ—“Give me something new, something out of the box that no other Jewish organization is doing. I want us to be ahead of the curve,” demanded Robert Katz of his team. Laurie Szenicer, the Senior Development Coordinator at OHEL, heard him and eight months later, on Tuesday, May 20, delivered an Xtreme fundraising event that put OHEL over the top.
“It’s exciting, something different. Definitely a challenge,” says a smiling and disbelieving Newark resident named Alex Graves, Jr., as he strained his neck to gaze up at the top of the building.
Thrill seekers of all types filled all 100 available slots maxing-out event participation and helping OHEL reach its targeted amount. “This is our new landmark Xtreme event,” said Katz, Chief Operating Officer at OHEL and a regular JLBC contributor. “We have to appeal to an entirely different crowd. You have to give people so many different entry points so they can truly understand what you do and what your organization is all about.”
Bright blue skies, a warm gentle breeze, a normal day, yet over the roof’s edge of this modern skyscraper come two rappellers scaling down the face of 550 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey. It was like a scene out of a Spiderman/Spiderwoman flick.
“There are more women rappellers than men; we were surprised by that and many mother/daughter pairs as well as couples,” says Szenicer.
“My mother signed up first,” said Ora Presby of Teaneck, “so I had to!”
“It seemed like a fun thing to do for a great cause,” said a smiling Susan Presby.
Had she ever done anything like this before?
“Nope.”
Or maybe she frequently rides the looping, inverting, super-roller coasters?
“Nope. See you on the ground!” Susan Presby cheerfully called out as she moved up in the rappelling queue and moved on to the staging area/harness area to review all the safety precautions with the highly qualified Over the Edge safety staff members.
Laurie Szenicer and the rest of the team had their hands full putting this event in motion, starting
with trying to locate a building that met with the safety requirements, with owners who were willing to say yes.
After a short search they found 550 Broad Street, the site of Tuesday’s event.
“This building is owned by Heritage Capital, which is owned by two brothers, Steven and Jeff Greenberg. Once Steve understood this was a professionally coordinated event, he immediately said yes. In fact, he is going over the edge with his daughter!”
Over the Edge is a special events company that provides signature events for non-profit organizations throughout the world, providing participants with a once-in-a-lifetime experience of rappelling over the edge of a building.
Over the Edge provides the professional staff and helps navigate the process, including safety equipment and insurance. The organization serves as a vital support agency, helping individuals and families surmount everyday challenges, heal from trauma, and manage in crisis.
“You are a bit apprehensive, but excited; you do it because of the excitement,” said Paul Holm of the Upper West Side.
All proceeds from the event will support the children and families of OHEL and will help OHEL children with disabilities, OHEL foster care, and those children in OHEL’s Domestic Violence Shelters.
Log on to www.OhelDoYouDare.org to see pictures and learn more about OHEL.
By Elyse Hansford
