More than 40 local residents came out Saturday to raise money for a cause that tragically affects millions of children in the Tri-State and throughout the United States.

Trusting and Reaching out to Individuals for a Better Environment, better known as TRIBE, sponsored its first Child Abuse Awareness Walk-A-Thon at the Ironton High School track. The group is comprised of Ohio University Southern students in the Human Services Technology program under the direction of Mary Virgin.

April is national Child Abuse Awareness Month.

There were a number of different social service organizations at the mile-long walk handing out information about their programs and the fence around the track was adorned with pieces of paper with quotes from children and others who have been affected by abuse.

Virgin said the walk is the first major event TRIBE has hosted and she feels it’s was a success, despite the low number of walkers. She feels other events held simultaneously Saturday hurt the number of those who turned out, she said.

“The group of students have done a fabulous job and we hope to continue the event in the future,” Virgin said.

Event coordinator Shelly Thacker said the said the crowd was not as big as she and the others involved in the walk would have liked, but the event did raise more than $800 for the Ohio Family and Children First Council, an organization dedicated to improving the wellbeing of young people in the state. Thacker said the money will stay in the community and there are a variety of different projects.

“What we really wanted to do is to raise awareness and get people thinking about the issue of child abuse,” Thacker said.

She said TRIBE was founded as a way to “take on causes and help others.”

For more information about the Human Services Technology program or TRIBE, call OUS at (740) 533-4600.