Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean took his presidential campaign a step further Monday night with a nationwide call-in party fund-raiser, and his supporters in Lawrence turned out to help.

About 150 of them gathered in the Lawrence home of John and Nancy Hiebert to listen in on Dean’s nationwide phone call, which reached more than 3,550 similar parties throughout the country, including about a half-dozen in Kansas.

Moreover, Dean’s Lawrence supporters raised $3,000 locally for the campaign, Nancy Hiebert said. Their goal had been $2,000.

“This was really fun — I’ve never been involved in this type of a campaign before,” said Lauren Sturm, one of those who attended the fund-raiser.

The Lawrence Dean support group — or Dean Meetup, as they are known — has quickly grown from about 40 people who jammed into a coffee shop early last summer for a meeting to at least 80, participants said.

Jolene Anderson, a former Lawrence mayor, said she was pleased to see the large number of Dean supporters at the Hiebert house, but she thinks the group can do more.

“I just want to see us reach out to more (people),” Anderson said. “Everybody I know has been drastically hurt by the Bush administration.”

During the teleconference, Dean took questions on campaign issues. He also commended his supporters for their grassroots efforts.

“This time the person with the most votes is going to get in the White House,” Dean said.

Curt and Shelley Waugh, of Topeka, were among those at the Hiebert house. Their son, Walker Waugh, is working in Vermont for Dean.

“I think this kind of event is terrific,” Curt Waugh said. “We hadn’t been involved in a campaign all our adult lives until now.”