Dot Heffron is terrified of heights. Last month, however, she rappelled from a 25-story building in downtown Richmond with ease. Heffron called her accomplishment, “Jumping for Jane.”

“If you saw what I saw when my daughter Jane finished her first lap across the swimming pool after training with Special Olympics, you’d fly to the moon to give her that feeling again,” explains Heffron, who participated with her husband, Richard, in the annual Special Olympics Virginia fundraiser known as Over the Edge.

Heffron’s daughter Jane has an intellectual disability and participating in sports was once challenging. “A lot of well-intentioned coaches and instructors simply aren’t familiar with the special way Jane learns best,” says Heffron. When Jane discovered Special Olympics Virginia everything changed.

To make the programming offered by Special Olympics Virginia possible, Heffron recently joined 135 Richmonders on the top of the SunTrust building as part of the Over the Edge fundraiser. Together the rappellers garnered $133,000 for the local chapter.

Also participating in the event were media representatives, such as Richmond Grid and Style Weekly, along with local bloggers such as Cheats Movement and the Checkout Girl. Many of the rappellers opted for costumes, ranging from Buzz Lightyear and Wonder Woman to fuzzy penguins and tutus. Dressed in a full body spandex suit (fluorescent orange, no less), the Grid superhero known, as Grid Guy was one of the first to make the jump.

Heffron says that thanks to the local rappellers and supporters, her daughter Jane will have an opportunity to continue to participate in programming by Special Olympics Virginia, like swimming. “Swimming with Special Olympics gives her a place to succeed and be celebrated, and really, who couldn’t use more of that?”

For more information, visit www.overtheedgeva.com.