The 2009 American Cancer Society Upper Missouri Relay For Life won top honors for its population group recently.

The relay was on Aug. 7, 2009, at Cutting Field in Williston.

The Upper Missouri Relay, which is in the 15,000�“19,999 population bracket, took first place per capita of all events in that category in the Society’s Great West Division.

The division includes the 12 western states, except California.

The relay netted $160,386, which is $8.22 per capita for the 19,510 citizens in Williams County. It outpaced the relay in Adams County, Wash., which took second with a per capita income of $6.73.

The award was formally presented to the team at the Regional Relay Summit in Fargo in October.

“The relay not only won the per capita award for its bracket, but also broke its record for income,” says Laurie Odden, community relationship manager for the American Cancer Society. “We recruited 36 teams for this past summer’s relay, and they did an unbelievable job of securing donations for their efforts. And it shows in this award.”

Every dollar raised by the teams is used by the American Cancer Society to continue its funding of cancer research, its state and national legislative advocacy, as well as its many educational and patient service programs.

Since the beginning of its grant program in 1946, the American Cancer Society has funded more than $3.2 billion in cancer research. Forty-four of the researchers funded by the society have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

Next year’s American Cancer Society Upper Missouri Relay For Life is July 30-31, 2010, at Cutting Field in Williston.

For more information regarding the 2010 American Cancer Society Upper Missouri Relay For Life, contact Katie Wyman at 701-570-7350 or the visit the organization’s Web site at uppermissourirelay.org.