Ted Culley - drop the boss

Jumping out of a plane is a bit like seafood.

“You either love it, or hate it,” said Ted Culley as he prepares to skydive this month for the Drop For Youth fundraiser.

“It’s not for everyone. You can either do it, or you’re horrified by it.”

The Sanford General Manager of Aquaculture is one of 26 Marlburians set to be ‘dropped’ from planes to support local youth through the Graeme Dingle Foundation’s Kiwi Can programme.

“The hardest part is getting off the seat and moving to the plane’s door to jump – it’s the longest metre.”

The goal for each volunteer is to raise $1,000, and jump from 9,000 feet. But as this will be Ted’s second skydive for the cause, he set the bar much higher for himself with a goal to raise $20,000 and jump from 20,000 feet.

Incredibly, he managed to raise over $30,000 from 87 sponsors.

“Kiwi Can is a terrific cause and Sanford is really proud to partner with Graeme Dingle who provides the programme into schools. It’s teaching kids life skills that they will use across all demographics and environments. It does it in a really fun way, and you end up with a group of kids that have a really good set of values and do the right thing when no one is looking.

Ted also had to lose 12kg to meet the weight restrictions.

“I was 12kg over the limit to jump from 20,000 feet so I decided to aim for that but I’ve now lost 18kg.”

Also jumping for the cause are New Zealand King Salmon’s Paul McIntyre and Grant Lovell and Marine Farming Association’s Jonathan Large.