Arts Council event takes participants ‘Over the Edge’
Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher
By Carlton Fletcher
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ALBANY — For the Albany Area Arts Council and Executive Director Nicole Willis, their May 2 “Over the Edge” event is about raising funds to support the arts in Albany and Dougherty County.
But Over the Edge Global Technical Manager Darien Dopp has a different take. For Dopp, and others like him who work with the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company that helps nonprofits raise often large amounts of money, the event is an opportunity to aid people in overcoming one of their greatest fears.
“You see some people with just an overwhelming fear of heights and a fear of stepping over the edge of a structure with nothing below them but the ground, and when they conquer it, it touches you,” Dopp, a LaFayette (Georgia) resident who has been working with Over the Edge for a decade, said while visiting Albany recently. “I’ve had people hug me for dear life when they reached the ground, and I had one propose marriage. It’s just heart-warming, sharing their exhilaration.”
Willis found out about Over the Edge a couple of years ago, and after signing a contract with the company, she’s been working to put together a local fundraiser unlike any other that the area has seen. She had things all set to utilize the Albany-Dougherty County Government Center, but just as she was ready to start putting the event together … oops, someone forgot to mention that there was an extensive overhaul of the Government Center that was planned, oh, about the time she wanted to have her Over the Edge event.
About Over the Edge: The company, founded by Paul Griffith in 2008, offers participants what the company calls a “life-changing urban rappelling challenge” that is turned into a fundraiser for nonprofits like the Arts Council.
“Over the Edge is all about the challenge,” Willis said. “Participants commit to go ‘over the edge’ by fundraising to meet their goal ahead of the event in order to rappel on the event day. Each participant is provided an online fundraising page that they use for crowdsourcing personal sponsorship through social media and other online platforms. (Of course, participants are encouraged to collect old-fashioned cash donations as well.) Once a participant has raised $1,000, they are eligible to go ‘over the edge.’ And that is when the real challenge begins.”
The challenge is for qualified participants to step over the ledge of a tall structure — in the Arts Council’s case, that would be across-the-street neighbor the Flats at 249. With the help of Dopp and other Over the Edge staff, brave souls earn the sponsorship funds they’ve collected by rappelling down to mother Earth. And while such a task is a simple matter for a veteran roper like Dopp, it’s a much larger challenge for someone like Willis and others who have already committed to taking the plunge.
But, Dopp points out, while the personal challenge of overcoming a quite natural fear can be daunting, the safety record of Over the Edge is pretty much flawless.
“Since we’ve been doing this, since 2008, we’ve had more than 70,000 people go over the edge without an injury,” he said. “I’ve done close to 75 of these myself, and I’ve really never had anything happen that gave me pause. We pride ourselves in taking all the risk out of the event. There is so much redundancy with safety features … Let me put it this way: The people who participate will be safer doing this than they will be driving to the venue.
“We also pride ourselves in not letting anyone (who qualified) walk away. I’ve had people cry and literally shiver out of fear, but most of them follow through. I think I’ve had five people walk away in 10 years.”
Willis points to the overwhelming financial success of Over the Edge, which has held events all over the United States and Canada; in Dublin, Ireland; in the UK; in Puerto Rico, and in the Aukland Islands.
“Their original mission was to help nonprofits make over $50 million in 10 years,” the Arts Council director said. “They reached that goal in eight years. And last year they went over $100 million. Their average event raises over $100,000 with an average of just 65 participants. Locally, the Albany Area Arts Council has set a fundraising goal of $50,000.”
The first Albany Area Arts Council “Over the Edge” event will kick off May 2 at 10 a.m. Rappellers can find out about the event on the Arts Council’s Facebook page, Facebook@AlbanyArtsCouncil, by visiting the albanyartscouncil.org web page or by calling Willis at (229) 439-2787. To directly sign up for the Over the Edge challenge or to make a donation, go to https://give.overtheedge.events/otealbanyarts2020.
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