Almost everyone knows at least one person affected by breast cancer and that's why millions of people run and walk together every year to help raise money for Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure.

The race got its start in the early 1980's in Dallas but is pretty new to South Dakota.

Last year, marked the very first Race for the Cure in KELOLAND. During the kick-off event, more than 2,000 people across the state helped in the fight against breast cancer, raising more than $200,000.

"Of the money we raised last year, 75 percent stayed in South Dakota to identify and meet the unmet breast health needs in our state and 25 percent goes to nationals for research grants," South Dakota Susan G. Komen for the Cure Development Chair Colleen Schurrer said. 
 
This year's event is just a month away and organizers are hoping to double the number of participants this year.

Walkers, runners, friends and family participating in this year's Susan G. Komen South Dakota Race for the Cure are getting prepared for the big event.  There are still a few weeks to go before runners take their marks but organizers are trying to use this time to get more people on the starting line.

With this disease so near and dear to her heart, a Sioux Falls woman is trying to recruit more members for her team "Gang Green."

Beth O'Toole didn't used to spend much time thinking about breast cancer.

"You can't plan for that.  You can't expect that," O'Toole said.

The shocking news came in 1998 when her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Just two years later, her mother was also diagnosed. And the news wouldn't end there. Four years after her mother was diagnosed, her twin sister also came down with the deadly disease. With three people in her family with breast cancer, O'Toole gets screened twice a year.

"My mother and my twin sister, who lives in Hawaii, both are breast cancer survivors so I fall into a high risk category," O'Toole said.

O'Toole's twin sister, Amy, has been cancer-free for almost five years; her mother, Celia Miner, is a nine-year survivor.  O'Toole wants to see that healthy streak continue for her family and for others. And that's why she wants to keep raising money for a cure.

"When I look at my kids, I think research and education are the things that are going to help in the next generation for breast cancer," O'Toole said.

With children in mind, O'Toole didn't hesitate to get involved with Race for the Cure. Her kids are even helping by designing team Gang Green t-shirts for the September event.  And for O'Toole, it's one way to show support for her three loved ones.

"This is what we can do. We can raise awareness and money for research in South Dakota," O'Toole said. 

With just under a month to go before the big event, O'Toole has 25 people on her team but she's trying to recruit more.

O'Toole is picking up more than her cell phone to get family and friends to join her team; she's logging onto a popular networking site.

"Using the computer, Facebook and those kinds of things has made it really easy to register and really easy to be involved this year," O'Toole said.

"I don't understand all the technology that she's using. I don't get Facebook but I watch it in awe," Celia Miner said.

Miner is an organizer for this year's Race for the Cure and says the more who sign up, the more help there will be in the future.

"Whether we like it or not, breast cancer is affecting younger and younger women and so awareness can't be stressed enough," Miner said.

So with awareness in mind, thousands walked together for a cure last year, an event Miner says was simply overwhelming.

"I watched the race last year through really bleary eyes. I think I cried through the whole thing," Miner said.

And her tears were not alone. As Miner and her daughter, Beth, say this disease touches almost everyone in some way.

"It's your neighbors, it's people you know, people you run into that you did know were affected by the disease.  That's what always amazes me with breast cancer is that it reaches so far and so many people are affected," O'Toole said.

"Many, many lives are touched by breast cancer and it's not just survivors, it changes the lives of families as well and to feel all that incredible support around you is just amazing," Miner said.

Amazing support from a family teaming up with millions of other moms, daughters and friends, all racing for a cure.

If you want to get involved in South Dakota's Race for the Cure, there's still time.  You have up until the event to register.

The race starts on Sunday September 27 beginning at 7 a.m. at the University of South Dakota Dakota Dome in Vermillion.

You can register for the Race For The Cure online.