From the hallowed racing quarters of Roush Fenway in North Carolina, NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, captain of 3M’s number 16 car, has partnered with longtime National Office Products Industry supporter 3M to help City of Hope.

Biffle, whose car now sports the City of Hope logo on its side and rear panels, recorded a public service announcement to raise awareness for 3M’s matching gift program, which benefits City of Hope.

Greg Biffle and 3M are racing to help find cures. (Photo courtesy of E Group Inc.)

“In their lifetime, one in two men and one in three women will get cancer,” said Biffle. “City of Hope is racing to improve those odds.”

3M’s matching gift program kicked off June 21 at the Toyota/SavMart 300 race in Sonoma, Calif. The program matches any donation made online at www.cityofhope.org/fightcancer, up to $100,000.

“3M and the National Office Products Industry are committed to ensuring City of Hope can quickly and effectively translate new ideas into promising therapies for the millions of people nationally and worldwide who are affected by cancer,” said Jack Truong, 3M vice president and 2009 City of Hope Spirit of Life® Award honoree.

The public service announcements are scheduled to air online on the City of Hope and 3M Web sites as well as Biffle’s Web site beginning this week.

In 2009, nearly 1.5 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. More than 562,000 people will die from the disease.

Since its inception, City of Hope’s National Office Products Industry has raised more than $70 million for lifesaving research, treatment and education programs. The industry helped fund the Center for Biomedicine & Genetics and City of Hope Helford Clinical Research Hospital.