PHOENIX (Oct. 15, 2007) - More than 3,100 Banner Health employees, their family members and friends raised $81,000 by participating in Sunday's 15th annual Race for the Cure, which raises money for breast-cancer education and research.

Banner Health, a nonprofit hospital system, received the award for the team with the most walkers.

Banner Health's large-scale participation is spurred by its role as the state's largest cancer care provider, said Susan Edwards, president of the Arizona Region of Banner Health.

"We embrace our nonprofit community commitment,'' she said.

Banner Health employees see everyday how advances in breast cancer care benefits patients, said Melanie Gillette, manager of community relations. "This is such a moving event. We all participate because we all know patients,  family members and friends who have gone through breast  cancer. This is for them.''

Overall, about 37,000 people participated in the event which was held around Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the state Capitol.

Event organizers say it will take a while to learn how much money the event raised. Last year, the total was more than $1 million.

Banner Health helped bring the Komen Race for the Cure to the Phoenix area in 1993. Since then, the race has become one of the area's most popular fund-raising events, attracting hundreds of thousands of participants and raising millions of dollars for breast cancer research, education and screening, and treatment programs.

Banner Health has consistently fielded some of the largest teams to participate in the Race.

About Banner Health

Headquarted in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns or manages 20 acute-care hospitals, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care and hospice services, an Alzheimer's institute and nursing registry. Banner Health is in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming.