SAGINAW, Mich. -- More than 4,000 people took part in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk Saturday at Krossroads Park in Saginaw to fight breast cancer.

A representative for the American Cancer Society told WNEM TV5 local participants raised $150,000 for breast cancer research, education and local patient services.

The Saginaw Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk was one of 13 taking place in Michigan and more than 140 held across the country.

"Making Strides Against Breast Cancer gives us the chance to celebrate our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, friends and co-workers who have survived breast cancer and help ensure that future generations are not faced with this life-threatening disease,” said Lynn Weaver, director of the American Cancer Society’s Bay Area Service Center in Essexville.

The American Cancer Society uses the dollars raised through Making Strides events to fund research, advocate for all women to have access to mammograms and to provide free programs and services that improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families.

Since 1993, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer has been the American Cancer Society’s main way to raise awareness and money to fight breast cancer.

In that time, five million walkers have raised more than $340 million through Making Strides.