She’s imagining herself, leaping out of a plane, 12,000ft in the air with one of her best friends.

Jerrie-Lee Ngareta Hill is no stranger to helping her community – but says she and her friend Maria Moore will be “terrified” before they take the plunge for charity.

Jerrie-Lee and Maria Moore met at BOPAS acting classes together about four years ago. They both say they will be playing characters to help them calm their nerves before they drop.

“We’re pretending to be experts at skydiving. Like we do this every day. I am actually extremely frightened of heights,” says Jerrie Lee.

Jerrie-Lee first got the idea to participate in the Drop For Youth challenge when she bumped into Dan Allen-Gordon at an acting class, who assists the Graeme Dingle Foundation.

“I met him at an acting event we had done with his daughter. He asked me if I would be willing to be a mentor for the foundation, to which I replied ‘absolutely’. It was not long after he rang me and said ‘I’m going to ask you to jump out of a plane’.”

Jerrie-Lee says when the question was put to her, she asked for a few days to decide.

The pair will skydive for charity on October 15, 2023 at 12pm. Photo: Supplied.

“Ultimately I thought, ‘why not?’ it’s a once in a life time experience, and if it is something I do want to do, why not do it for a good cause?”

Maria Moore, who is dropping for youth with Jerrie-Lee, has the same anxiety about heights, but she believes the cause is a great excuse to conquer her fear.

“I think the Graeme Dingle foundation is a great way to teach kids, and show them good ways to act.

“When I was a student I was a chubby kid with a pageboy haircut, but I was encouraged by a teacher who told me I was great at maths. That day, I got a nine out of ten score on a test.”

Maria, who is now 66-years-old, says the feeling of receiving the encouragement from her teacher has stuck with her to this day.

“This foundation brings out the positive in children who are able to use it in a field. I see some kids who don’t have best lifestyle who could absolutely benefit from their work. It will benefit the whole community.”

When Maria said yes to dropping for youth, she says she felt silly when she came to the realisation that she will be skydiving.

“I thought, what have I said yes to, am I silly? But Jerrie-Lee told me ‘no, you’re brave’, and that’s exactly it, I’m braver than I think.”

Jerrie-Lee and Maria will drop for youth on Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 12pm. To learn more about their fundraiser for the Graeme Dingle Foundation, visit their GiveALittle page.