JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The sixth-annual Over the Edge with Friends with fundraiser raised $101,400 for Friends of Children’s Hospital.
The event was held on Saturday, April 23 at the District at Eastover in Jackson. Forty-eight participants rappelled down the five-story One Eastover Center building.
“Thank you to everyone who supported Friends of Children’s Hospital at Over the Edge with Friends,” said Rochelle Hicks, Friends executive director. “The outpouring of community support we received was incredible and a testament to the immeasurable generosity of our participants and donors. On behalf of all of Mississippi’s sick and injured children, we offer our most heartfelt thanks.”
“Batson Children’s Hospital has a special place in my heart,” said Over the Edge with Friends participant Lisa Kent, whose three-year-old son Peter had a 35-day NICU stay in 2018 for multiple disabilities caused by childbirth complications and infant son Zach stayed in the Sanderson Tower NICU for four days in 2021 for jaundice. “Peter is a frequent flier within the hospital system, having multiple hospital stays and appointments on a regular basis, and Zach has returned to the ER once for RSV and is a pediatric patient within the Children’s of Mississippi system,” she said.
At this year’s event, Kent, who is admittedly afraid of heights, continued the tradition started by her late husband Rob, who died at UMMC in January after a two-year battle with cancer, and rappelled five stories down in honor of her husband and as a way of saying “thanks” to hospital system for all that it has done over the years for her family.
Every dollar raised at Over the Edge with Friends helps provide healthcare treatment and support to the 180,000 children treated at Children’s of Mississippi each year.