Conquer your fears – try the Drop Zone

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/5/2018 (400 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On Tues., Aug. 28, 100 brave individuals will rappel from the top of the Manitoba Hydro building in the Easter Seals Drop Zone, a heart-pounding fundraising adventure in support of the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities.

Since 2005, ordinary people all across Canada have become superheroes for a day and collectively raised over $16 million to support people with disabilities. Over the past 13 years all the money raised in Manitoba has stayed in Manitoba to support the more than 47,000 children, youth and adults with disabilities in this province.

If you’d like to become a superhero and take part in the Easter Seals Drop Zone - Winnipeg event in August, the time to register is now. There are only 100 spots available, so act quickly.

Kyla Wiebe is a self-described "adrenalin junkie" who signed up to take part in the Drop Zone event in 2008 because "its initial attraction was that it was something unique and exciting."

As she went through the process of training and fundraising for the event (all participants raise funds), Wiebe found herself drawn to the cause. Five years later, she began working at the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities, and is now its gift-planning manager.

"My mother worked with people with disabilities in sport and, at the time I was preparing for the Drop Zone event, my father was dying of cancer.

"He died two weeks before (the Drop Zone) but my mother felt it was something he would have definitely liked to see me do, and it felt like I was honouring his adventurous spirit," Wiebe explains.

"In my career, I really wanted to take my sales skills and put them into causes and the opportunity to do good through Drop Zone probably impacted my decision to go into fundraising," she says.

Wiebe, 48, has tried whitewater rafting, skydiving, paragliding and parasailing, and says that the training, safety measures and guidance provided by Tacten, the specialist rope-access company used by Drop Zone, ensure that the event is incredibly safe for everyone involved.

"You go through training a few weeks ahead of the event and then again on the day. At no point did I ever feel I was in danger but people do get scared. You get to the edge, about to go over, and you look down, and that’s the hardest part," she says.

"All the people who are scared at the top are always so excited and exhilarated. When I did it, I was excited and relieved and ended up wishing I had spent more time on the wall. It’s something I’d like to do again."

Visit thedropzone.ca/Winnipeg  for more information and to register as an individual, as part of team or as part of a corporate challenge. Conquer your fears and change lives!