Jumping for donations

Jay Stokes wanted two things for his 50th birthday - to jump out of an airplane more than 600 times in 24 hours and to raise $60,000 for the Special Olympics. He achieved the first goal by setting a new world record with 640 successful jumps, but we need to wait a month to see if he hit his fundraising goal. Make your pledge here.

The Indianapolis Star reports several amazing parts to Jay's story. He needed to complete a jump every 2 minutes and 24 seconds. He might have ripped the quadriceps in his left leg during the 200th jump. He had a team of 100 volunteers packing his 23 chutes. And best of all, on jump #599, he missed the landing area and ended up a pitch dark farm field... he walked to a nearby highway, hitched a ride from a motorist, and made it back to airport for the last 41 jumps. Go to Jay's blog to see pictures of all 641 jumps.

There may be more efficient ways to raise more money, but we don't want to tell the donor that because there are rarely fundraising events that create this much excitement.