VIDALIA — The fight against cancer won’t end until there is a cure, and Friday community members from the Miss-Lou gathered in Vidalia to once again pick up arms against the disease.

The kick-off party for the 2010 Miss-Lou Relay for Life, the annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society, was Friday.

Participants wore paper party hats while the tune of “Happy Birthday” played over a loudspeaker.

That’s because those involved in Relay for Life are, “working to create a world with more birthdays,” Miss-Lou Relay for Life Missions Chair Tim Fuqua said.

Relay for Life will be May 7, Mother’s Day weekend, Miss-Lou Relay for Life Chair Bridgid Martin said.

“Bring your mothers out,” she said.

Fundraising for the event starts now, and relay team members will be selling Sonic cards and relay T-shirts.

The “birthday celebration” T-shirts will be available for $15 for short-sleeve, $20 for long-sleeve and $25 for sweat shirts.

The Miss-Lou group has not set a goal for 2010, Martin said.

“Last year, we made $249,000, and we always like to go over what we did the previous year,” Martin said.

Those involved with Relay will be involved in cancer-fighting activities outside of raising funds for research in the coming year, American Cancer Society Community Representative Kathy Prospere said.

In January, the a group will go to Jackson for “lobby day” with the Mississippi state legislature, and will work locally to get the smoke-free air act, which prohibits smoking in most public places, passed.

“They got it passed in Louisiana, but we weren’t successful at our state level (in Mississippi), so we’re working at the local level,” Prospere said.

At Friday’s event, the group also announced the final total of the 2009 fundraising campaign, $249.920.52.