By Nicole Hamilton
The Cincinnati Enquirer

By Beth Bagneris' estimate, Saturday's Walk As One Walk-A-Thon to benefit the National Conference for Community and Justice was about 2,000 people more successful than last year's walk.

"I'd say there were about 3,000 people at last year's walk, and today we've estimated that there were about 5,000 people who turned out this year - maybe as many as 7,500," said Bagneris, the walk coordinator.

The largest such walk in Cincinnati, it is also NCCJ's biggest fund-raiser, raising millions of dollars to help in the fight against racism, bigotry and bias.

The 6-mile walk began and ended at Sawyer Point's Yeatman's Cove, with a route through Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

After the walk, participants feasted on ethnic foods and listened to performances by steel drummers, step dancers and Indian musicians.

The National Conference for Community and Justice was founded in 1927 as the National Conference for Christians and Jews.

For the past 75 years, its mission has been to improve the nation's intergroup relations and to build more inclusive communities.

E-mail nhamilton@enquirer.com