Brenda Morrison, of Aberdeen, teased her husband, Quinn, as he tried on high-heeled shoes for his one-mile walk through downtown Bel Air Saturday morning.
"I think those are great!" Brenda Morrison said, laughing, as her husband settled on a pair of bright red shoes with spiky heels.
Brenda and Quinn Morrison were part of a Harford Community College team – Brenda is HCC's vice president for marketing, development, and community relations – that participated in the seventh annual Walk-a-Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser for SARC, or Sexual Assault/Spouse Abuse Resource Center.
The organization assists Harford County residents who have experienced child abuse, spousal abuse, stalking, sexual assault and rape.
About $65,000 was raised by the participants, which was well above the $50,000 goal set, Luisa Caiazzo, CEO of SARC, said after the walk ended, adding it was the best fundraising total ever for Walk-a-Mile.
All SARC services, including counseling, legal assistance and a shelter, are free. Caiazzo said about 200 people are sheltered each year in the 28-bed safe house, which is in a confidential location, and more than half the people who come to the safe house are children.
"The funds that you raise today are really critical to making sure that those services are available," Caiazzo told the participants.
Walk-a-Mile, during which men walk one mile through Bel Air wearing high-heeled shoes, is designed so men can show their support for women and children who have suffered from abuse.
The male walkers, however, were not alone. Some leaned on their wives for support and encouragement while walking in the painful shoes, and many women and children also participated in the walk.
The walkers and their supporters gathered in the parking lot of the Main Street Oyster House before the event.
Karen Desir, of Abingdon, who was walking with her sisters in the local Xi Delta Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, held her 15-month-old daughter, Kennedi, while waiting for the walk to begin.
Kennedi was bundled up with two coats and a blanket against the unseasonably chilly late-morning weather.
"One of our goals is to support our community," Desir said of her sorority chapter. "I just want [my daughter] to grow up with that value."
The brothers of Omicron Psi Sigma, the Harford County chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Inc. fraternity, showed off their heels as they waited for the walk.
"We're just trying to do our small part to raise money and help out," chapter President Rahkon Ross said.
Crystal Zewe, a SARC volunteer, helped men try on shoes.
Zewe, an Abingdon resident, said she told them that walking in high heels is similar to walking on the tips of their toes.
"They're being good sports," she said. "Some of them are taking the biggest heels."
Caiazzo said about 150 people, including 100 registered walkers, participated.
"For prevention and education, it helps men better understand and appreciate women's experiences," she said of wearing the high-heeled shoes.
Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, who has been a longtime supporter of and participant in Walk-a-Mile, wore bright green heels as he offered encouragement before the walk.
"It's so important for men to make a statement, to stand forward and say that 'violence against women is unacceptable,' and we need to be proud to stand up and do that," Glassman said.
The walkers headed up Main Street. Two women sitting outside the Bel Air Reckord Armory high-fived some of the walkers.
The group turned just before Gordon Street, and they headed back south down Bond Street with Bel Air Police officers guiding them along the route.
Volunteers, including a number of Harford County high school students, cheered them on.
Liam Maurice, 15, of Havre de Grace, and Courtney Hagermann, 28, of Bel Air, cheered and waved pom-poms as the walkers neared the end.
Liam is a freshman in the Science and Mathematics Academy magnet program at Aberdeen High School.
"I wanted to come out and help the cause," he said.
Liam said a friend's mother asked him to help support the event.
"I know how badly [domestic violence] can affect someone, so I would like to help out as much as I can," he said. "I thought it was pretty cool that they would do this for others, and I would definitely like to help next year."
Hagermann, a Bel Air lawyer, is a former lawyer at SARC. She is now a solo practitioner, but she wanted to come back and support the organization as a volunteer.
"SARC is one of the best organizations I've ever had the chance to be involved with," she said. "I made up my mind long ago I wanted to be involved in some way and volunteer wherever I could."
Steve Trostle, of Joppa, who teachers criminal law at the Community College of Baltimore County in Essex, led the seven-man Chumps in Pumps fundraising team.
After the walk, he said he encouraged his former students to participate, and four of them responded.
Trostle, who is also an assistant state's attorney in Cecil County and ran an unsuccessful campaign to unseat incumbent Harford County State's Attorney Joe Cassilly in 2014, noted that he teaches future law enforcement officers.
"I'm really proud that they came out and supported this cause," he said of his students.