More than 1,000 people participated in a three-mile walk through Tacoma's Stadium District on Saturday to raise funds for breast cancer research and awareness programs. The event raised about $90,000 said Liz Lamb-Ferro, a spokeswoman with the American Cancer Society.

The walk was followed by a celebration at Stadium High School, including a performance from country music group Nathan Chance, which helped raise funds and donated half of its CD sales to the event

Sixty percent of the funds raised will go toward early detection and awareness programs, Lamb-Ferro said, with a particular emphasis on providing mammograms to uninsured and underinsured women. The other 40 percent is earmarked for breast-cancer research.

The orchard is just past the Roy, up a hill, past a graveyard and behind a group of five new homes sitting on a cul-de-sac.

For 10 young professionals from Seattle, it was the perfect place to spend a Saturday.

“The weather is great, I’m with friends and, most of all, we’re helping people,” said Thomas Buford, a 29-year-old attorney for the Department of Justice.

The group spent much of the day among the 3-year-old apple and prune trees. They donned canvas bibs with giant pockets, filled them with dozens of apples and transported them to cardboard boxes. The fruit is destined for the Emergency Food Network, which will distribute them this week to area charities.

“I want to make a positive impact. That’s why I’m here,” said 28-year-old Greg Chiarella, part of the group from a nonprofit called Seattle Works that helps link men and women in their 20s and 30s with various charity efforts. The group meets one Saturday each month for a different task; previous assignments include sorting donations at Goodwill and cleaning a homeless shelter.

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