Community Corner
Vertical High Raises More Than $8,000 in Climb
Eight climbers raise thousands for American Lung Association
Vertical High, a team of eight men and women with close ties to Avon Lake raised $8,409 between fundraising and an outing at on Walker Road on Feb. 29.
“We raised $500 from BW3 sales and another $865 from the raffle that team member, Tom Murphy, put together for our event,” member Jody Barilla said. “(Buffalo Wild Wings) was very generous in that we raised $413.25 from our sales and they donated the difference to round it out to $500.”
All eight climbers, Owen Murphy (6:50), Jack Pepper (7:14), Tom Murphy (7:41), Lisa Scheer (7:43), Steve Scheer (7:50), Krystal Kovacik (8:37), Jody Barilla (9:01) and Beth Wood (9:38) made the March 3 climb up 42 flights of stairs in less than 10 minutes each. The fastest climber at the event, Todd Suszynski, recorded a time of 5:17. (Results are available at www.chaneyevents.com.)
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The climb supports the American Lung Association’s (ALA) fundraiser, Fight for Air Climb and the team’s total makes it the top fundraiser by $4,000. Tom Murphy alone brought in $4,119. In total, the event surpassed the organizers’ goal of $50,000, bringing $74,855.20.
Lisa Scheer called the team’s fundraising “crazy successful. ”Firefighters from the Greater Cleveland area also made the climb—in full turnout gear.
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“I have a whole new appreciation for all the firefighters who do this in full gear as part of their rescue efforts,” Barilla said. “I especially have a new appreciation for all the firefighters from 9/11.”
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