The Paint the Town Pink steering committee members Kim Underwood, Janet Anderson and Nancy Schnableon pose for a photo Friday afternoon at The Hormel Institute with Dr. Sergio Gradilone, one of the Institute’s section leaders, from right; PTTP Director Kathi Finley; and The Hormel Institute’s Gail Dennison; Mandie Siems and Tim Ruzek. Photo provided

Paint the Town Pink may have ended in February, but money to fight cancer is still coming in.

This year’s PTTP has raised at least $189,000 in support for world-class breast cancer research at the Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota.

Paint the Town Pink steering committee members announced the total to date Friday at the Hormel Institute. That amount is the highest total ever for Paint the Town Pink, topping last year’s previous record of more than $162,000.

Overall, PTTP has raised more than $551,000 in five years for the Institute’s breast cancer research. Funds from PTTP directly fund breast cancer research at The Hormel Institute.

Some of this year’s top PTTP fundraising events included the “Plunging for Pink” polar plunge; Austin Bruins’ Paint the Rink Pink hockey game; Hormel Foods Corp.’s Austin plant and corporate employee fundraisers; Fishing for a Cure ice-fishing contest; and the Adams and Brownsdale PTTP communitywide initiatives.

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States when excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers and is the second-leading cause of death by cancer, with more than 40,000 deaths estimated per year.