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Some cancer survivors from Chilton County at the May the Cure Be With You Cancer Survivor Breakfast on May 4. (SUNNY MAYS | CONTRIBUTED)

Farm House Cafe catered the breakfast for the survivor breakfast at the YMCA of Chilton County. (SUNNY MAYS | CONTRIBUTED)

Luminarias for those who have passed with cancer were on display throughout the gym. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)

Cancer survivors from West End Baptist Church with the Chilton County Relay for Life Queens. (SUNNY MAYS | CONTRIBUTED)

Bingo and various forms of entertainment were a part of the survivor breakfast for visitors. (SUNNY MAYS | CONTRIBUTED)

The Queens of Chilton County came out to support the survivor breakfast. (SUNNY MAYS | CONTRIBUTED)

Just Twirl It was among the entertainment during the survivor breakfast. (SUNNY MAYS | CONTRIBUTED)

By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County Relay for Life hosted its marquee event of 2024 with the May the Cure Be With You Cancer Survivor Breakfast on May 4. Held at the YMCA of Chilton County, the breakfast and time for fellowship hosted cancer survivors and their families to celebrate them and their brave fight against the devastating disease.

“It is just great, and the number of survivors, we are very pleased with the number that came out today,” Sunny Mays, Chilton County Relay for Life Organizer, said. “I am just thrilled, and I hope next year can grow even bigger. Relay is different everywhere now since Covid, and the big events we used to have are few and far between. We are trying to figure out some ways that we can continue to help and let the survivors know that we are here for them as a county committee, and as individuals in anything and everything they need.”

The breakfast was catered by Farm House Cafe and had a Stars Wars theme falling on the fourth of May. The survivor breakfast has been held in previous years, but this year was the first time entertainment was incorporated into it as the Clanton Middle School Choir, Just Twirl It and Impact Martial Arts all came out to perform. All of the survivors in attendance received a cancer survivor medal as well.

Mays has been working with the Chilton County Relay for Life since 2013 after her husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2011. She helped build Relay into a spectacle every May in Chilton County with the Relay for Life Pageant, and raising money for the American Cancer Society. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the shutdown took a toll on the county’s Relay for Life festivities. This led Mays to enhance the survivor breakfast experience to make it a premier event for the county’s Relay for Life celebrations.

“Relay is not the same anymore, but it is still my heart,” Mays said. “Any way we can, and what the girls do, throughout the year will be to bring awareness and let people know we are here. We hope that more people will make the time to come, and let us celebrate them. It is not about us, it is about them.”

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