The sky over the Siloam Springs Municipal Airport was filled Saturday with some of the Children's Advocacy Center's strongest supporters, as fundraisers took a jump for a cause this weekend. Supporters who had raised over $1,000 in pledges completed one day of skydives on Saturday with Skydive Skyranch.
For some, like Michelle Davis, the jump was the first time they had been skydiving.
"It's my first jump ever; I've been wanting to do it for years," Davis said.
Davis has been a volunteer for the Benton County Children's Advocacy Center for years, and said she thought the skydiving event would be a good opportunity to give more to the group while also getting to make a skydive. Davis works at the front desk for the CAC, where she checks people in and helps make sure everything runs smoothly.
Davis has been involved in other events for the center, such as the glow run and she helped put pinwheels in front of businesses around town to raise awareness of child abuse.
"I love kids, and I really think that was a good fit for me," Davis said. "Working with children just really has a place in my heart."
"Personally, I see the effects that it has on the kids and how they're really helping the community," Davis said of the CAC. "I see the kids coming in for counseling, and how excited they are to be there and how they're being helped in really positive ways.
Davis said she was afraid of heights, and so she went on motorcycle trips to high overlooks with her husband, who served in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, to get used to heights.
Other participants, like Amy Glenn, keep coming back. Glenn said she has taken skydives four times now, all of which were with the CAC. Glenn said her other nonprofit work also involves jumping, as she participates in the Polar Plunge for the Special Olympics in February.
Glenn said she is motivated to help the CAC because she is familiar with the effects child abuse can have on children.
"I'm a public educator, a school teacher, so I see first-hand how child abuse effects children in Northwest Arkansas," Glenn said. "The best I can do right now is keep raising money and keep skydiving for the CAC."
Glenn and Davis both raised money by asking for donations for the CAC from friends and family. Glenn said that because she has participated in the event for the past few years, her church and family know to expect the letters and social media posts.
"Child abuse is actually more prevalent than people think," Glenn said. "It's happening in our own backyards."
"I mean, it's children. They can't advocate for themselves, and so as adults, we should be the ones to advocate for them."
General News on 08/09/2017