The Fourth Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Walk-a-Thon at Howard Payne University was a deemed a great success this year, eliciting the highest level of participation and fund-raising to date.

The event was held on Tuesday, October 27, at the Outdoor Recreation Complex from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with 20 participating teams and 172 walkers.

Coordinated by HPU’s university nurse Jamie Skaggs and Resident Director Brian Street, the walk-a-thon raised $5,099.27, which was an increase of more than $700 from last year. All of the money raised will be donated to the Walker Cancer Center Patient Fund for women in Brown County that are dealing with breast cancer.

According to Skaggs, “one thing that I am most proud of is that all of the proceeds will stay in Brown County and will benefit women in our community.”

Many local merchants donated items for door prizes, and several groups/agencies helped supply the Walk-a-Thon t-shirts that were provided to each walker. These generous community sponsors, whose contributions were valued at approximately $2,067.

Community sponsors for the event include: HPU Student Government Association; Brownwood Regional Medical Center; Dr. Tammi Cox; Dr. Carol Boren; Dr. Sarah Chandler and Dr. Christopher Stephens; Heart Of Texas Surgical Services, P.A. – Dr. Stephen D Scoggin & Dr. D. Eric Wiley; HPU Health Services and gotowillie’s.com.

Door Prize Sponsors include: Chili’s; Doc’s Pharmacy #1 – Brownwood; Doc’s Pharmacy #2 – Early; Four corners; Kroger; Martha’s; Attic; Mi Familia; Miller Christmas Store; Section Hand Restaurant; Studebaker’s Restaurant; Wal-Mart; Sodexho Campus Services; Main Street Car Wash; Nathan’s Jewelers; Underwood’s Cafeteria; Prima Pasta Restaurant; Laura Johnson- Mary Kay and TBC/University Bookstore.