Did you know that more than 11 million cancer survivors will celebrate a birthday this year? Did you know that some 39,080 new cancer cases will be diagnosed this year in Georgia alone?

Hoping to give more people more birthdays is the American Cancer Society, a national community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, advocacy, education, and service.

With well over two million volunteers across the nation, the American Cancer Society is one of the oldest and largest voluntary health agencies in the United States.

The American Cancer Society is the largest source of private, not-for-profit cancer research funds in the United States. It is second only to the federal government in total dollars spent. It spent roughly $146 million on cancer research in 2007 and more dollars on providing the public with accurate, up-to-date information on cancer.

For nearly 30 years, every July, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society has held an annual golf tournament to raise money to continue all its efforts to treat and prevent cancer.

This year, the event will be held at Stone Creek July 8-10. Shotgun start will be at 1 p.m. each day.

Teams are encouraged to sign up now.

The golf tournament typically raises an average of $30,000 to $40,000.

Fifty to 60 teams with more than 200 players are expected to participate in the three-day event, and each day will end in a cookout.