About 3,000 people gathered at Mill Woods Town Centre in south Edmonton on Sunday for this year’s Run for the Cure, raising more than $600,000 for breast cancer research. The annual walking and running event is held in communities across Canada and has raised about $18 million for breast cancer research and supports.

Baye Clark of the Canadian Cancer Society said the turnout reflects how widely breast cancer affects people. “Everyone here has been touched in some way by breast cancer in their lives and it just shows that no one is alone in a situation like this,” Clark said. “It’s very moving.”

One in eight women in Canada will receive a breast cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. Clark said community support is important for people facing the disease, whether they are affected personally or through family. “It’s important to know that people who face breast cancer, whether it be in your family, whether it be by yourself, that there is a community that you can fall back on,” Clark said. CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti contributed files.

Based on reporting by CTV News Edmonton.