Since 1997 Golfers Against Cancer, through annual golf tournaments and dinner auctions, have been raising money to fund cancer research in order to help find a cure for this deadly disease.
Today more lives are lost to cancer in the United States each year than were claimed in all of World War II.
The entrepreneurial Houston golfers chartered a 501(c)3 non-profit organization called Golfers Against Cancer (GAC). Word spread of their success. Shortly, friends of the Houston group in New York, Atlanta, Boston, and Greensboro who had had similar experiences with their friends facing cancer wanted to do something. These men also took entrepreneurial action. Locally the Triad Dinner for Cancer Research, a Golfers Against Cancer event, was started in 2005 by several golfing buddies, including Dr. Bruce Lyon, Dr. David Olin, Bob Plybon, Mike Bruce, Butch Mills, Ross Cox, Jay Kirkpatrick, Tam Milton, John Moll, and Gordon Cole.
Like the Houston group, the Triad GAC is a 100% volunteer group - there is no paid staff! On a September Sunday evening, the Triad GAC hosts The Triad Dinner for Cancer Research, a dinner and auction fundraiser. Sponsors participate in a golf event on the following morning. The First Annual Triad Dinner for Cancer Research was held in September of 2005 and raised $260,000 that was invested in cancer research in North Carolina. Since the first annual Triad Dinner for Cancer Research held in September of 2005, the Triad GAC has raised nearly $800,000 to help speed the cure for cancer. These funds have been awarded to the Comprehensive Cancer Centers in North Carolina at Wake Forest, Duke and UNC. In addition to these institutions, East Carolina University will also receive research funds in 2008.