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Over the Edge Event at Wheeling Island Casino Raises Money for the YWCA

Over the Edge Event Takes Odds at Casino

Photos by Scott McCloskey Participants make their way down the front of the hotel at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack during the YWCA’s Over the Edge event Saturday morning.

WHEELING — Cheered on by family and friends, dozens took their turns Saturday rappelling nearly 100 feet down the front facade of a hotel to raise funds for the Wheeling YWCA.

The nonprofit organization held its fifth-annual Over the Edge event at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack.

“We are going Over the Edge for YWCA Wheeling,” said YWCA Executive Director Lori Jones who was at the hotel as each participant took his or her turn. “It raises unrestricted money for the organization so that we can provide things to the women that we serve.”

Each participant received appropriate rappelling and safety gear prior to a short training session by officials with Over the Edge Global. They then took their turns rappelling 10 stories down the front of the hotel.

Casey Howard, of Valley Grove, said she thought the event would be a fun way to raise some money for a great cause. Although she had never participated in Over the Edge, she said she enjoys rock climbing activities.

“It was fun,” said Howard who got a hug from her son, Quentin, as soon as she reached the ground.

Chris Burress, of Wheeling, said the experience was “scary” but “absolutely amazing” at the same time. He said he decided to sign up for the fundraiser after a friend walked into his restaurant, Tito’s Sloppy Doggs, and talked him into the challenge. Burress said he felt the event was a great and fun way to give back to the community.

Nicole Fletcher, of Martins Ferry, said the event was an “invigorating” experience for her.

“This is my first time,” she said. “I’m involved in the community a lot, with the (Wheeling Area) Chamber of Commerce, the Junior League of Wheeling — so I like to reach out and help the community, and I thought this was really an exciting way to do that.”

Jones said the YWCA helps provide funding and services for more than 8,300 women and children. Although grants cover some of those services, the YWCA still needs funding events, such as the one Saturday, to help make ends meet.

Jones said this is the first year the event was held at the Wheeling Island hotel. She said the YWCA held the event at the old Stone & Thomas building in downtown Wheeling for the first four years but decided it was time to move to a new location to do “something new” and a “little different.”

More than 60 people signed up to participate in the Over the Edge fundraiser that kicked off with a Friday evening VIP event and continued throughout the day Saturday. Jones said each participant was asked to raise donations through sponsors. During the past five years, she said the YWCA has raised more than $250,000 from the events, which makes the global event the organization’s largest fundraiser.

Over the Edge is an adventure experience company that started in Nova Scotia, Canada, more than a decade ago. It helps nonprofits and businesses hold rappelling events for fundraising, team-building and good-old fashion fun, according to its website. Since 2008, the business has helped raise more than $74 million for causes around the world.

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