Relay For Life of Kane County received the American Cancer Society’s prestigious Heart of Relay award at the Society’s recent Relay Leadership Summit in Itasca, Ill.

With the Heart of Relay award, the American Cancer Society honors Relay events from throughout the country that have demonstrated successful practices and innovations in supporting the Society’s mission and 2015 goals in the areas of Fighting Back, Advocacy, Survivor/Caregiver Engagement and Youth Involvement. This year, Relay For Life of Kane County raised approximately $265,000 with more than one thousand participants.

“By supporting Relay For Life of Kane County, our volunteers are helping us save more lives faster,” said Alan D. Lev, chairman of the board of the American Cancer Society’s Illinois Division. “We invite all Kane County residents to join us in fighting for every birthday threatened by cancer at this year’s Relay.”

In 2013, to better reflect the geography of its participants, the Relay For Life of Kane County will be called Relay For Life of the Tri-Cities. Teams have already begun forming and raising donations for the 2013 Relay For Life of the Tri-Cities. For more information, call Molly Link at (630) 879-9009 opt. 3 or visit www.RelayForLife.org/TriCitiesIL.

About the American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end cancer for good. As a global grassroots force of three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping you stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early, helping you get well by being there for you during and after a diagnosis, by finding cures through groundbreaking discovery and fighting back through public policy. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.8 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.