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Bar News - July 23, 2004 Bar Member Takes a Dive to Help Special Olympics By: Anita S. Becker ATTORNEY PAULA PHILBROOK, a solo practitioner based in Amherst and vice president of the Pepperell Skydiving Center (Skydive Pepperell) in Pepperell, Mass., is getting ready to Jump for Joy, and encourages her Bar colleagues and others in the community to join her. Jump for Joy is a skydiving fundraiser, to be held on Sept. 25, that Philbrook is organizing to benefit Special Olympics New Hampshire. "The event started in 1993 when I made 50 jumps in one day for Special Olympics New Hampshire," says Philbrook, who was serving in the legislature at the time. "We had 12 politicians jump later that year as well." She adds that lawyers who have jumped in the past include David Hess and Amy Bagley, both current and former legislators. "The following year additional politicians jumped; in all, over $20,000 was raised for Special Olympics." In subsequent years, Skydive Pepperell has hosted fundraising dives for other charities as well. "The event had dropped off after awhile and I wanted to bring it back," says Philbrook. "The idea came about as a result of our involvement in the DREAM Team, a skydiving team that made jumps into Special Olympics’ events and other children’s charitable events," relates Philbrook.
Attorney Paula Philbrook of Amherst jumped through the bomb-bay doors of a vintage World War II B-17 bomber last September. She was wearing a jumpsuit from a 300-person, world-record skydive that she was part of in Arizona in 2002. Philbrook is organizing a local tandem jump for charity this fall. Jump for Joy participants collect a minimum of $350 in pledges, strap on a harness and then jump out of an airplane in tandem with an FAA- and USPA-certified tandem instructor. Jumpers will take a 20-minute plane ride over two miles high and then free fall for about 50 seconds before descending under a canopy built for two. The canopy flight lasts about 5-7 minutes. Except for a small percentage used to cover the center’s expenses for the event, most of the money goes directly to the charity. "What they are doing is very cool," says Rhonda Martin, director of special events for Special Olympics New Hampshire, a non-profit organization based in Manchester that provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for individuals with mental challenges. She says that the money raised will go toward supporting and funding activities for the state’s Special Olympics athletes. "We are always looking for events like this that are fun and different; being unique makes it stand out among other fundraising efforts." Special Olympics is helping Philbrook and Skydive Pepperell with promotion of the event. A Nashua native, Philbrook began skydiving in 1990 after graduating from Prescott College in Arizona. "Skydiving is just one of the things I had wanted to do since I was very young," she says. "After I landed on my first jump, I knew that I wanted to get right back up there and do it again." She held a variety of jobs at the center over the years while working toward her law degree, which she received from Franklin Pierce Law Center in 1996. For more information, contact Philbrook at (978) 433-9222, (603) 673-6166, or paula@philbrooklaw.com.
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