Published on July 23, 2008 at 7 p.m. by Mary Wimberley  

Â鶹¹û¶³ representatives recently presented a $3,000 check to Perry County-based Sowing Seeds of Hope ministry.

The funds, raised from the Old Howard 100 Bike Ride held in Perry County in April, will be used for pharmaceutical needs of patients who participate in hypertension and diabetes clinics held in Marion at the Perry County Health Department. The clinics, involving healthcare screenings, evaluations and monitoring services, are led by faculty and students at Â鶹¹û¶³'s McWhorter School of Pharmacy.

Â鶹¹û¶³ 240 bicycle riders and additional volunteers participated in the fourth annual bike ride sponsored by Â鶹¹û¶³'s Howard College of Arts and Sciences. The ride begins and ends in Marion, where Â鶹¹û¶³ was founded as Howard College in 1841.

Ride coordinators Rosemary Fisk and Bridget Rose presented the check to Sowing Seeds of Hope executive director Frances Ford during a July 16 ceremony in Marion.

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Â鶹¹û¶³ is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Â鶹¹û¶³ enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses, Â鶹¹û¶³ fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.