Idaho Woman Raising Money for Wounded Veterans with a 104 Story Climb

One woman is helping raise money for wounded veterans in an unconventional way: Climbing the 104 story One World Observatory in New York.

Berit Ollestad, hailing from Sandpoint, Idaho, will represent her state in the upcoming “Tunnel to Towers” climb. The event, held June 1, involves 1,000 participants who climb all 104 floors to honor America’s heroes lost during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Participants are able to choose a charity to support, and she chose Wounded Warrior Project.

“It’s important we don’t abandon our wounded. So that’s why I’m doing it,” Ollestad said.

“I have a 19-year-old son. I have an 18-year-old daughter, and the thought of them going away to war and not coming back, you know, or coming back wounded, just like I don’t even like to think about it,” she continued.

“We care about our veterans and we want to do whatever we can to support them when they’re coming back and they have needs that need to be taken care of,” she added.

According to her fundraising page, Ollestad has a fundraising goal of $25,100, raising $2,220 at the time of this writing.

“Ever since living back on the East Coast I had the opportunity to meet a number of veterans while writing for the local paper in Morristown, N.J. There were some that I met that were coming home injured and had an uphill battle acclimating back into civilian life,” she wrote on the page, explaining that their “perseverance and optimism has always stayed with me and has inspired me on more than one occasion” when she has faced her own challenges.

“That’s why when I was selected off the waitlist to participate in the tower climb, I didn’t hesitate to say yes,” she added.

Tunnel to Towers notes that they have been “helping America’s heroes by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and by building specially-adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders” since 9/11. The organization said it is also committed to “eradicating” veteran homelessness and ensuring people never forget 9/11.