Julie Gilliland's mother, grandmother and two aunts found out within seven months of one another that they had breast cancer.

A few years later, Julie's husband Brett got some frightening news about his family too. His dad was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and his aunt with breast cancer. Then Julie's dad found out he had prostate cancer.

"You don't want to hear the word cancer at all, let alone regarding that many members of your family," said Julie, 34. "You just don't expect that to happen; it's not supposed to happen."

In the past two generations, the Shiloh couple said at least 20 relatives have been diagnosed with cancer. Doctors working with the family have not pinpointed any genetic or environmental link.

"We felt completely helpless as would most people facing that situation," she said.

In doing research, the Gillilands learned that one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer over the course of his or her lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society.

Brett, 33, said he remembers driving, trying to think of something that would go beyond the usual support.

"We knew we wanted to give back, but we didn't know what we could do to really make a difference," he said.

Julie has volunteered with the Humane Society of Missouri and Brett with the Children's Miracle Network, but neither had any experience with running a charity.

Brett, an avid golfer, wondered about holding a golf fundraiser. He called Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville and asked how much it would cost to reserve the course on a Monday. A worker there told him $10,000.

"We had no committee, no people who golfed, no sponsors, no nothing, but we reserved the course," he said.

That was in the summer of 2006, and the Gillilands held their first event a year later. Brett, a managing director with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Glen Carbon, called some of his clients and got his fellow employees involved. They were able to donate $10,000 to the American Cancer Society.

Since then, the couple have hosted the tournament every year as well as several other fundraisers. Their Swing Fore Hope charity has donated more than $105,000 to cancer research, most of it to the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

"Obviously we have a passion to raise the money for this, and I think we've been successful because people do see that," Julie said.

The Gillilands said some of the donations are funding small research trials to gather data on different treatments. Those results are then used to obtain grants that may result in new medications.

Keeping the donated money local has been important to the couple.

"With the statistics the way they are, chances are the next person diagnosed is going to be someone you know," said Julie.

The goal for their next golf event on Monday is to raise $60,000, and more than 136 golfers and six corporate sponsors have signed on. (For more information, visit swingforehope.org.)

Brett and Julie, who works as a speech pathologist with the Special School District of St. Louis County, have three children: Max, 5, Drew, 3, and Hudson, 1. Julie says she gets regular screenings for cancer, and Brett gets an annual checkup.

"We're not a family or a couple that's wishing for cancer, but we're also not saying that's not going to happen to us because it did and it continues to happen to us," she said.

Several of their relatives have died, but others, like Julie's mom, have survived, and are driving them to continue working for a cure.

"We hope people are inspired by our effort to get involved," she said. "Maybe we're not going to take away people's chemotherapy or their worry now, but we are going to make a difference in the future."