If you see people rappelling downtown South Bend’s Liberty Tower today, don’t be alarmed. It’s a butterflies-inducing fund-raiser to help teens at risk.
The Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County helps teens experiencing safety and housing crises. For nine years it has raised money with its annual Over the Edge event. Volunteers raised pledges and then rappelled from the roof over the side of the eight-story former Robertson’s Building.
This year they’ve moved to the city’s tallest building, the 24-story Liberty Tower. You can see them in action today from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m., even in the rain as long as there’s no lightning or high winds.
Those leery of making the taller descent could take a Heck No We Won’t Go option and raise pledges without rappelling. Granger’s John Piller says he and teammate Joe Hecktor rappeled last year, confident they’d learned it as scouts. But in middle age they found the Robertson’s Building challenging enough.
“This year when they talked about the Liberty Tower and that building, that was way over our desire to go off that building and we’re proud to support their needs.”
Piller says they still raised hundreds of dollars, safely from the ground.
