Cheney Free Press -

CHENEY- Sunday morning, community members gathered at Roos Field on Eastern Washington University's (EWU) campus for a 5K run honoring the life of Sativa Transue, an EWU alum who lost her life to domestic violence.

Forty percent of the proceeds were donated to Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Coalition and another 40% was donated to Vanessa Behan, a crisis nursery for children.

The remaining 20% of the money was retained by the EWU Exercise Science Club to support future student development opportunities.

Perla Millan Henson, president of the exercise science club at EWU, said there has been a lot of support from the Cheney community leading up to the 5K.

"I'm very inspired by the way the community has come together to raise awareness," she said. "We've been working on this for six months and it has become a lot bigger than we could've hoped for. Just from hearing stories of people who knew her, she was such a bubbly person and the fact that this happened to her needs to be talked about and needs to be addressed."

Millan Henson said there were over 80 people registered for the race where they dressed up in purple tutus and T-shirts.

Mykayla Bolieu, Transue's sister and coordinator for the Transue family, said Sativa was the kind of person that people wanted to be around.

"She [Sativa] was an amazing person. She was the best person that I know and she was kind to everyone," Bolieu said. "She actually did a 5K with her little brother when she was at Eastern." Bolieu said this kind of event was perfect to honor her sister who she described as an adventurer and someone who loved to be outdoors.

"This is letting people know that they are not alone and they can get out," she said.

Taffy Hunter, the education and outreach coordinator at the Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Coalition (SRDVC), said the run honoring Transue's life is a way to bring awareness to domestic violence and bring the beginning of the end to the problem.

"We are focused on helping the community see and become aware of the issue," she said. "For the 5K, Perla reached out and we were excited to be a part of that. This is bringing awareness to Sativa's story as well as the bigger picture of homicide as part of domestic violence." Community education is part of SRDVC's five year plan to reduce domestic violence in the greater Spokane area community.

SRDVC had a couple of advocates on had passing out resource fliers and other information.

Hunter said she and other SRDVC members attended to be a source of support to runners.

"We want to make sure and be aware that people will need support during this event," she said. "People often come forward to disclose to someone, so we want to be there for them and let them know about next steps."