Abseiling from a 27-storey building might not be your typical weekend activity, but two Morwell workers are getting their adrenaline fix and supporting foster children.
Rachana Rajan and Tammy Madex will join about 225 thrill seekers to abseil from a Melbourne skyscraper as part of Anglicare Victoria’s Altitude Shift campaign.
The pair, who work at Gippsland Community Legal Service, recently jumped on board with the hope to raise funds for Anglicare Victoria’s foster care services.
“Our legal service is a program of Anglicare Victoria so we heard about what they were doing and how it’s in support of foster care programs,” Ms Rajan said.
“We thought it would be good to support work and raise money for something that helps out.”
Anglicare Victoria began the campaign last year to fund its foster care programs that assist carers and children across the state.
Of the 230 children across Gippsland in foster care on any one night, about 55 are placed in Anglicare Victoria’s registered foster carer households.
Anglicare Victoria chief executive Paul McDonald said Altitude Shift reflected what children might feel when they go into out-of-home care.
He hopes to raise $200,000 for the fundraiser’s second year, which will go towards funding foster children’s education, school camps and extra-curricular activities.
“These children have to be brave and face all kinds of things,” Mr McDonald said.
“Abseiling reflects this by jumping into the unknown and it challenges people in relation to experiences they haven’t had before,” he said.
Ms Madex is a GCLS intake worker whose thrill-seeking aptitude has seen her jump out of a plane and join this year’s Trafalgar East Summit Survivor.
“This will probably be just as scary, I would think,” Ms Madex said.
“I like a bit of an adrenaline rush, but this is also a good cause.”
Ms Rajan is a lawyer whose most extreme sports adventures involve indoor rock climbing, high-altitude hiking trips and bike rides across “wobbly bridges almost falling into the water”.
“I don’t think either of us are scared of heights, but it is 113 metres tall, so upon seeing the drop I might change my mind,” Ms Rajan said.
“I’m slowly getting more and more nervous, but because it’s raising money for a good cause, I can’t chicken out now.”
The Morwell colleagues aim to raise $1500 as a team and are encouraging people to “fall out of their comfort zone” when they abseil on Saturday, 2 May.
For more information or to register for the event held from 30 April to 2 May, visit www.altitudeshift.org.au
You can also donate to the team by searching ‘Legal eagles? Abseilutely’ on the website.
