North Shore Climbers Michelle Wolski and Brian Gold emerge onto the top floor of the U.S. Bank building after successfully completing the Fight for Air Climb.

Molly Schissler

On March 23, North Shore Bank employees participated in the American Lung Association’s 2013 Fight for Air Climb at Milwaukee’s U.S. Bank.

The fundraiser was a tall order, to say the least: Participants, as individuals or grouped into teams, climbed all 47 floors of the U.S. Bank building downtown, a total 1,034 steps.

Staff Auditor Nicole Curtis had a special reason for taking part in the climb.

Logan and Adysson Curtis were at the Fight for Air Climb to cheer on their mom, Nicole.

“Both my children have asthma,” she says. Her 3-year-old daughter, Adysson, mostly experiences exertion-induced asthma, but son Logan, 5, has had to have nebulizer treatments and similar medical interventions since he was 6 months old. “When I saw this event, I thought, ‘I gotta do this!’ It was for him. He’s just this happy little kid who wants to do all the things 5-year-olds normally get to do.”

The climb itself was no walk in the park, Nicole says. “Actually doing it — it was way harder than I thought it was going to be. At times I wanted to quit; you go through that ‘fight or flight’ sensation. But my kids were there, and my son had told his whole class his mom was going to climb a 47-story building for him. So I couldn’t go back!”

It took awhile, but Nicole finished the climb — and she wants to improve her time next year. “It’s something I hope to do again and again!” she says.

The Milwaukee climb attracted 2,587 participants — the most of any such climb in the country, according to ALA Special Events Senior Manager Megan Cordova. The event raised $560,905.42 for the ALA, well over its $475,000 goal. Of that, North Shore Bank employees raised $3,208. Participating employees included:

Kattia Abad, Customer Care Specialist, and her father, Carlos
Cristen Baumann, District Manager
Rebecca Cairns, Teller (Northside)
Nicole Curtis, Staff Auditor
Greg Dickenson, Universal Banker (East)
Brian Gold, Business Banking Officer*
Bob Kaiser, Business Banking Officer
Jim Lange, Investment Real Estate Loan Originator
Jay McKenna, President and COO
Michele Padovano, Shorewood Branch Manager
Molly Schissler, VP, Human Resources
Jenni Schlei, Wauwatosa Assistant Branch Manager, Operations
Raven Wilson, Mailroom Messenger
Barb Wisneski, Manager, Consumer & Commercial Closing
Michelle Wolski, Teller (Grafton)

(Not everyone showed up at the same time, so if you participated in the climb and don’t see your name here, please email shorelines@northshorebank.com and we’ll add it right away!)

North Shore Climbers Jim Lange, Molly Schissler, Jenni Schlei, Barb Wisneski and Cristen Baumann show off the team sign after completing the climb.

From left: Michelle, Brian, Nicole Curtis, Bob Kaiser, Jay McKenna, Cristen, Molly, Barb and Jim after the climb.

The Fight for Air Climb was hard work, but well worth it, and we hope to see even more climbers next year. Congratulations to everyone who fought the fight and won!

*Brian also climbed in the timed race portion — twice! — in addition to doing the “regular” climb.