Donors Raise $180K by Going Down A Detroit Skyscraper

By Edward Cardenas

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - Organizers of the Over The Edge Detroit have released preliminary totals from a unique fundraiser where donors paid at least $1,000 to repel down the side of the First National Building in Detroit.

More than 70 rappellers went over the edge of the 25-story Albert Kahn-designed building Friday, and raised more than $180,000 so far for the Detroit to Nepal Foundation (D2N) and the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP).

Funds raised will benefit D2N, which works with public health care and education in remote villages in the Himalayas. As part of D2N's mission is also to assist local charities. For this fundraiser it was DAPCEP.

Dr. Richard Keidan, founder of Detroit 2 Nepal, said the organization has worked with public health and health care and education in remote villages in the Himalayas.

"In the wake of the recent earthquake , our work there is even more important," said Keidan, during the event. "Disaster relief is our fist priority right now."

Additionally, funds raised from the event will be used to help some of the 4,000 children annually from the Detroit area to go through a stem curriculum on weekends, or in the summer, on college campuses and get excited about STEM education, according to Jason Lee, executive director of DAPCEP.

To see a video of what it is like to repel down the building, visit CBSDetroit.com.