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Killebrew-Thompson Memorial donates $400,000 to Mountain States Tumor Institute

The annual golf tournament in Sun Valley has raised $18 million for cancer research over the past 40 years.

BOISE, Idaho — Every August since 1977, the Killebrew-Thompson Memorial golf tournament in Sun Valley has gathered hundreds of people from all across the state and the nation with one goal - to help find a cure for cancer.

Founded by Payette native and pro baseball hall of famer Harmon Killebrew in memory of his fallen teammate Danny Thompson, the event has raised $18 million for cancer research and treatment at St. Luke's Mountain States Tumor Institute and the Masonic Cancer Center in Minnesota.

Wednesday night in downtown Boise, board members, sponsors and Gov. Brad Little presented the proceeds from this year's event to MSTI in the amount of $400,000.

Medical director Dan Zuckerman said the donated funds are helping fund trials and innovative forms of treatment they might otherwise not be able to pull off.

"This means everything to MSTI, this generous donation from [the Killebrew-Thompson Memorial] allows us to maintain and grow our research program and bring experimental therapies to our patients who are in the greatest need," Zuckerman said. "So every year we're able open clinical trials and actually leverage the private donations to get federal funding."

The Killebrew-Thompson Memorial is the single-largest donation MSTI receives annually, which is one of hte reasons the nonprofit event is considered one of the leading cancer research fundraisers of its kind in the nation.

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