BEAN BLOSSOM — More than 200 family members, friends and former clients gathered at the Bean Blossom Animal Clinic on Oct. 6 to raise money to name a treatment room in honor of Dr. James Brester at the new Brown County Humane Society shelter.

As part of the fundraising effort for the new shelter, the humane society is offering the purchase of naming rights to various rooms. The rights to the new treatment room are set at $200,000.

The executor of the Howard Hughes Legacy Passthrough Fund at the Brown County Community Foundation wanted to bring the community together in support of both Brester and the humane society.

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The executor has offered $100,000 in matching money from the Hughes Fund if the community can raise the additional $100,000 by Thursday, Oct. 31.

At the Sunday event, more than $27,000 was raised in three hours. The donations were kicked off with a $5,000 gift from the new owners of the Bean Blossom Animal Clinic. Dr. Andrew Mills,Dr. William Finney along with clinic manager Anna Brester Gartner presented the giant check.

Clients and employees shared stories about their experiences with Brester, many of which included notes of his quiet compassion and his tremendous work ethic.

Guy Knaus, who donated his time as DJ for the day, created a special t-shirt for the occasion. He auctioned off the only copy for $100.

Donations now total about $32,000. An additional $68,000 needs to be raised by Oct. 31 to reach the $100,000 goal for the matching funds. People can donate online at secure.givelively.org/donate/brown-county-community-foundation-inc/doc-brester.

Donations can also be made by texting “Brester” to 44321 or by mailing checks to Brown County Community Foundation, P.O. Box 191, Nashville, Indiana 47448. Include “Brester” on the check memo line.