A wide variety of superheroes were rappelling down the Landmark 7 building in Kelowna Thursday in support of Easter Seals, an organization that supports people living with disabilities.
Wellington-Altus Private Wealth took part in the event as its main sponsor, sending 10 people down the side of the building while also aiming to raise money and awareness for a good cause.
“This one was an easy decision for us,” said Emmy Pachenski of Wellington-Altus shortly after rappelling down the side of the 23-story building.
She tells Castanet staff members and clients of Wellington-Altus have both been supported by Easter Seals programs in the past.
“This one’s really near and dear. It’s close to our hearts, so we jumped at the opportunity to be able to sponsor it,” said Pachenski.
Easter Seals offers summer camps to child and adult with disabilities, and at a cost of about $3,600 per person for the charity, fundraisers like Thursday’s Drop-Zone event are crucial.
“The summer camps run for a week at a time and for all these campers this is the only kind of program that they can really do for this kind of period,” said James Gagnon of Easter Seals.
“It’s great for the parents too. It’s a week of rest for them where they know their kids are going away and having a super fun time. The camp program is magical.”
Captain America and Mr. Incredible made an appearance Thursday.
“We’re trying to support heroes. Heroes in the sense of regular heroes, the ones that are actually repelling down,” said Captain America. “They are taking time out of their day, they’re overcoming fears and they’re helping people financially and so forth for some of the most vulnerable people that we have in the community.”
“So we’re trying to provide interest. I did it last year, came down, and that was a lot of fun. But we also want to draw more attention to it because it’s such a wonderful cause.”
The event aims to raise $45,000 for Easter Seals and you can head to their website to make a donation.