Lara Cooper/Daily News Niki Kirby (far right), co-owner of Bruster's Ice Cream, scoops out samples of Turtle ice cream at the Chocolate Festival at the Sloan Convention Center Sunday.

More chocoholics than ever showed up Sunday at the Sloan Convention Center to sample chocolate treats and benefit Hospice of Southern Kentucky.

The 25th annual Chocolate Festival included 39 vendors, up from 26 last year, providing ice cream, brownies, and other dark morsels for more than 1,000 chocolate eaters. Fundraising totals, including a tally for the silent auction, weren’t available this morning, but preliminary figures indicated the event raised more than the $7,000 taken in last year, according to Julie Pride, hospice’s community development coordinator.

&#8220It’s so heartwarming that all these people come out and support hospice,” Pride said.

She said she was also thankful for her co-workers.

&#8220They spend their weeks visiting people who are dying, but they are still helping me,” Pride said.

More than 1,000 people bought advance tickets. Tickets were $10 for adults, $5 for children 5 to 12, and free for younger kids, who were entertained by an emcee’s &#8220Donald Duck” vocalizations, she said.

&#8220We keep the kids happy – everyone’s happy,” Pride added.

Big kids were also sufficiently entertained.

Chocolate connoisseur Mike Brown of Bowling Green said his strategy was built on efficiency to save room.

&#8220I’m kind of scouting out everything and then I’m going to attack what looks good.”

Western Kentucky University student Megan Kelley, 21, and her friend Laura Barrett, 20, of Paintsville, tried to achieve an unhealthy equilibrium.

While they devised a way to wade through the teaming crowd to score chocolate, they nibbled from plates loaded with potato chips and dip.

&#8220It really balances out all the sweets. It’s way too sweet otherwise,” Barrett said, noting that vendor lines weren’t working too well this year.

&#8220The easiest way is to duck in and grab it,” Kelley added.

Mindey Knight, 17, of Bowling Green and her friends adopted a different strategy to battle chaotic lines around vendor tables.

&#8220Start outside and work our way in,” Knight said.

She said her favorite treats were mousse cake supplied by Longhorn’s Steakhouse and Bruster’s ice cream, before being scolded by a friend for a plate raid.

Other chocoholics were ambivalent.

&#8220I haven’t tasted anything that’s not good. Chocolate is chocolate,” said Bowling Green resident Stephanie Helveston, adding that she needed water to chase the chocolate down.

Todd Brannon, owner of The Lunch Box Cafe in Franklin, which opened in October, said a customer had advised him that walking while eating cancels out the chocolate effects.

He said he was delighted that chocoholics got to sample his store’s specialty – an &#8220ultimate brownie,” a triple chocolate layered morsel with a cream cheese center.

Jennifer Smith of Bowling Green said she enjoyed chocolate cheesecake from Chaney’s Dairy Barn, as she browsed auction items, ranging from expensive paintings to dog food.

&#8220I was thinking I might bid on (dog food) if it’s a little cheaper than I can get it at the store,” Smith said.

Proceeds from the festival are used to ensure that uninsured hospice customers receive the same level of care as other patients; no one is turned away based on their ability to pay. Hospice of Southern Kentucky provides emotional support to families in addition to medical care, according to Pride.