$21,500 raised as bosses drop off

More than $21,500 has been raised for vulnerable children through Tauranga bosses dropping off one of the city's tallest buildings.

The second Drop Your Boss event was held at the IRD building in Elizabeth St yesterday and city leaders including Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby abseiled down the side to raise money for the Foundation for Youth Development (FYD).

Z Energy operations manager for Western and Eastern Bay of Plenty Naomi Biddle raised more than $5600 for her efforts.

"It's one way to get over your fear of heights and throw yourself off a building on a windy and raining day," she said.

Ms Biddle made a "pinky-promise" with local Z retailers Dave and Lynette Gillies that she would take on the challenge this year.

"Dave did it last year and he's involved in the FYD. Every couple of weeks he does mentoring. So Lynette and I pinky-promised that we would do it this year."

However, when the dates were announced earlier Ms Gillies was already booked to be out of town. "I was left holding the ropes, literally, by myself," Ms Biddle said.

"You see these guys from the foundation just working tirelessly to make a difference in these young people's lives and all I had to was abseil off a building. That's nothing compared to what these guys do every day, every month, every year for these kids."

Each Z station Ms Biddle oversees fundraised for a week, asking customers if they would like to contribute to the cause.

She was one of 22 leaders who abseiled down the building, including the Bay of Plenty Times' Annemarie Quill, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic chief executive Dr Alan Hampton, and Western Bay of Plenty District Council chief executive Miriam Taris.

FYD Bay of Plenty regional manager Dan Allen-Gordon said: "We challenge our young people to challenge themselves outside of their comfort zone and to have community leaders say, 'Yep, I'll do it', is fantastic. It's leading by example."