It’s a bizarre fundraising effort, but a lucrative one for two prize winners and a group of local women hoping to aid the fight against breast cancer.

The third annual Cowapalooza, a charity event to raise money for the Atlanta 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk, will be held Sept. 5 at Rock Creek Park at 7 p.m. and will once again feature the unique game of Cow Patty Bingo.

Winning the prize money for Cow Patty Bingo lies in the hooves of two cows, who will wander across a field painted with 1,200 randomly numbered bingo squares and choose the spot to their liking to go to the bathroom. Whatever square their deposit lands on determines the winner.

If all the tickets are sold, the first place winner will receive $1,000 and the second place winner will receive $500. Players do not have to be present in order to win the cash prizes.

Proceeds from the event will help a group of about 13 local women raise $1,000 each to participate in the Atlanta 2-Day Breast Cancer Walk on Sept. 20-21. The group hopes to sell at least 1,200 tickets at $10 each.

“I lost my mother to breast cancer in 1995, that’s why this event is so important to me,” said event organizer Amy Swafford, a teacher at Robinson Elementary School.

Swafford admits that the community’s interest in this bizarre event is because of it’s uniqueness and rarity.

“It’s something different that people have never seen before,” said Swafford.

Cowapalooza tickets may be available at the event, but Swafford said, “We’ve already sold almost all of them.”

For more information, call Deborah Henson at (706) 216-8595.

E-mail Michele Hester at michele@dawsonnews.com.