CLEVELAND — There are a lot of areas to take in Huntingbank Field. From the lower bowl and Dawg Pound to the suites and upper deck, there are plenty of options for Browns games and every other event hosted at the stadium. But some people got to check the stadium out from the very top for a good cause.
Participants in a fundraising effort to benefit Adoption Network Cleveland got the chance to scale the exterior of Huntingbank Field, rappelling down the side in an "Over the Edge" event. Over the Edge is an urban repelling company that has offered its resources to charitable organizations looking to raise money.
"People will raise money kind of like they might for a walk or a run peer to peer fundraising," said the executive director of Adoption Network Cleveland, Betsie Norris, back in August.
In 1988, Norris founded Adoption Network Cleveland, a non-profit organization that aims to provide "information, advocacy, education, and support for members of the adoption triad (adoptees, birthparents, and adoptive/kinship/foster parents), youth in foster care, siblings, and related professionals."
Glenn Cook, assistant general manager for the Cleveland Browns, who helped bring the event together, serves on their board. This event means more than most to Cook because it hits close to home.
"Around the age of nine or 10, the man who ended up becoming my dad finalized legally adopting me and honestly really set up the foundation and future of my life," Cook said.
Cook's wife also grew up as an adopted child, and their experiences as adoptees have inspired the Cook family to do more in the adoption community. That includes here in Northeast Ohio.
"Glenn is on our board of directors, and when he stepped forward and said, 'Hey, maybe we can have it at the stadium, it was just so meaningful," Norris said. "To have that personal connection, both Glenn and his wife have their own rich backstories with these issues, and so just what a fantastic way to be able to give back to the community and bring this to life."
That came in the form of Saturday's event at Huntington Bank Field. Participants who reached the $1,000 fundraising mark secured their spot to rappel from the top of the stadium down to the ground, where a landing party took place at the base. The event featured a kids activity area, food trucks, a DJ, raffle prizes and more.
As someone with personal connections to adoption, Cook was grateful to be able to use his platform to help and to be able to use the Browns stadium for a unique and thrilling event for Adoption Network Cleveland.
"Adoption is something that has always been really important to me because of that, and just trying to position myself to give people the same springboard and opportunities and meet the needs that I had both physically and emotionally," Cook said. "The Browns, we always talk about community being one of our core pillars, and I'm grateful that honestly the organization is standing behind me with this—not only just going Over the Edge for fun, but to a strong cause, right, to pour into others and give them that same platform to take off like I took off and so we want people to come out, enjoy it, have fun."
"It's less about just rappelling, but it's just a sign that they support and they're committed to this cause," Cook said at the event on Saturday.
