Assistance dogs and their owners circled Tempe Town Lake Saturday at the 6th Annual Walk ‘n Roll Dog.

The event, put on by Power Paws Assistance Dogs — a nonprofit organization that trains seeing-eye dogs — functions to promote awareness and fundraising for the company.

Power Paws Assistance Dogs depends on community donations to train assistance dogs, a process that takes two years and totals $15,000 per dog.

“Our clients only pay $5,000, so the remainder comes from the community,” said Robyn Abels, executive director of the nonprofit.

The organization also provides service dogs to veterans, a service that Abels said has recently seen an increase in demand.

“We are working with people with mobility impairment, the deaf and hard of hearing and any veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Abels said.

In business since 2001, Power Paws has gained awareness almost completely through word-of-mouth, she said, and spends very little on advertising.

Rachel Owens, a volunteer Wells Fargo vendor at the walk, said barring a few tiffs between dogs, the walk went very well.

In addition to the 5k walk around the lake, the first 500 registered participants enjoyed free lunch provided by Alice Cooperstown restaurant, goodie bags for people and dogs and a silent auction to raise funds for the organization.

Power Paws has seen a recent decrease in donations, which Abels attributed to economic hardships.

“We have seen not only a decrease in the donations, but also the people who need the dogs aren’t applying because they don’t have the money to pay for the dogs either,” she said.

Saturday’s walk was the best turnout since it launched, Abels said, because of the organization’s community involvement, including gift-wrapping at REI during the holiday season to garner new participants.

Reach the reporter at anatwood@asu.edu