It was the first big event of the year for the Ironton Junior High School Kids Care Club, and they brought home a trophy to show for their effort.

The students took part Saturday in the annual Heart Walk, sponsored by the American Heart Association of Boyd and Greenup counties in Kentucky. Sarah Gabbard, corporate relations manager for the American Heart Association, said the roughly 40 students who took part raised $4,000, making the Kids Care Club second only to King's Daughters Medical Center for the amount of money raised. Gabbard said the club was not only successful in its fund-raising effort, the children were enthusiastic about what they were doing, and set a good example for the other teams.

"They really went above and beyond what we expected," Gabbard said. "And they were so excited about participating. For junior high school kids to raise $4,000 is phenomenal. They did great work and they exemplified the kind of team that all should strive to be."

Gabbard said approximately 350 people took part in the Heart Walk at Ashland's Central Park. Preliminary figures indicate the annual event brought in between $44,000 and $45,000 for heart association programs.