The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation Hosted Lung Cancer: Drive it off the Earth Golf Tournament II

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) July 6, 2007 --The Bonnie J. Addario "A Breath Away from the Cure" Lung Cancer Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco and San Carlos, California, hosted Lung Cancer: Drive it off the Earth Golf Tournament II at Green Hills Country Club in Millbrae, California, on Monday, June 25, 2007 with a shotgun start at high noon. It was truly a hole in one in the fight against Lung Cancer, raising over $150,000. The live auction raised $44,100 with exclusive items including a 2008 Playboy Golf Finals Charity Auction Package (not generally open to the public), a two-night stay for two at Pebble Beach with rounds of golf for two at Pebble Beach and Spanish Bay, foursomes at private country clubs such as Clint Eastwood's Tehama, Green Hills, Meadow, Monterey Peninsula, Montreux, Silver Creek, and Ruby Hill, life saving CT Scans for lung cancer from Sheila Galuppo at Premier Scan in San Jose which sold four times on the block at $1800 a pop (over four times the actual cost of each scan), a once-in-a-lifetime duck-hunting excursion, fishing trips, a Cheryl Jennings' ABC TV studio tour, artwork by J.T. Revizé and much more. The Foundation was thrilled at all the generous support making this year even more successful than last.

First place tournament winners were John Figueroa, Don Martindale, Brian Schneider, and Jeff Fish finishing 14 under par. David Bender, John Umeme, David Della and Frank Regello came in second. Third place winners were Chon Gallegos, first QB for the Oakland Raiders in 1962, tournament chair Ignacio del Rio (ALFHA TECH CAMBRIDGE), Joe Golgosky, and Wade Schott. Tournament winnings were all donated back to the Foundation.

Major supporters and attendees included: Tony Addario and Rick Pettibone (Merrill Lynch) who brought along the Playboy Girls of Golf, adding a great deal of excitement, Honorary co-chair Senator Tom Torlakson, Dr. Thierry Jahan (UCSF), KNBR Hooked on Golf's radio host and auctioneer extraordinaire Mitch Juricich, Marguerite and Leon Attabit, Cathy Matthews and Robert Schmitt (CBS Outdoor), Sam Bain (Bainco International Investors), Julie B. Harkins (First Republic Bank), Fred Bertetta, Jr. (Olympian Gulf Properties), J. Taylor Crandall (Oak Hill Capital Partners), Thomas McClure, Sr., (McClure Electric), Dick Foley (Ewing Foley), Bruce Prescott (Trump Alioto, Trump & Prescott), and Ken Steele (St. Mary's Medical Center).

The San Francisco Street Artists rallied together with artist and photographer Mike Addario gathering a unique collection of art for the Silent Auction.

Local golfers and supporters included James and Tonia Baker, Babe and Rosalie Balzer, Rich and Diane Johnson, Eddie Hernandez, Lowell Sandell, Lambert Walsh, Mike Mako, and others for a roster of over 110 golfers.

The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation began on March 6, 2006 and exists to eradicate lung cancer through research, screening, education, prevention, and treatment. Proceeds from this tournament will go toward providing early detection and CT scans at a brand new screening program at a hospital in Redwood City this September.

San Francisco native and resident of San Carlos, Bonnie Addario, 3-1/2 year Stage IV lung cancer survivor says "I live every single minute of every single day thinking about how we can catch this disease early, so nobody, not anybody in my family, or any of my friends or anyone I haven't yet met, or anyone who smoked or never smoked, has to go through the pain and suffering that I did and may still. I will always have cancer. But I am one of the lucky few, and when I say few, I mean a handful of us, who have managed by some miracle, to beat the odds, for now. There's a myth about lung cancer that needs to be dispelled. It's not just a smoker's disease. Sixty percent of those diagnosed with lung cancer are former smokers or nonsmokers. Dana Reeve never smoked. Peter Jennings did. Do we ask people with heart disease if they ate the wrong food? Let's concentrate on saving lives because we can -- if we catch lung cancer early enough. Lung cancer is the number 1 cancer killer. It claims more lives than breast, prostate, colon, liver, melanoma and kidney cancers combined. This year, over 213,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer and 160,399 will die from the disease. 19 people are going to die in the next hour. 450 people die of lung cancer every day. That would mean everybody in this golf tournament and then some. In California alone, an estimated 17,920 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer and 13,220 will die. Lung cancer is an epidemic."

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