Randal Savoy holds up the big bass he caught Sunday while fishing the fundraising bass tournament for Jackie Savoy, his sister-in-law.

CATAHOULA — At midday here Sunday, it was time for dinner, time to relax and have fun and, most importantly, time to raise money for a Coteau Holmes woman who has been fighting cancer since December.

Jackie Savoy’s ongoing cancer treatment captured the hearts of hundreds of residents in the close-knit communities of rural St. Martin Parish. They took the time to show they cared — and had a good time doing just that — this past weekend at Clayton Boudreaux Memorial Park. A two-day fundraising extravaganza, plus a benefit bass tournament, was held for her and her family.

Many adults in the park, including most of the volunteers, wore T-shirts that read “We don’t know how strong we are until being strong is the only choice. #TeamJackie.”

T-Roy Savoy, her husband, has been at the forefront of many fundraising events for nonprofits and charities across Acadiana. Many Teche Area outdoorsman saw his handiwork, his hard work as a volunteer, while stepping in as director of the Top Rod Big Bass Classic, a tournament that benefits, among others, the Lydia Cancer Association.

Jackie Savoy helps him with each endeavor. She was at his side for each event, even in the predawn darkness before the Big Bass Classic at Marshfield Boat Landing in March 2016.

T-Roy Savoy, 51, who wore a Top Rod Big Bass Classic T-shirt, tipped his cap to his wife, who was able to get up on the elevated platform in front of the crowd Saturday night, take the microphone and thank everyone. He praised her for her strength during this battle.

“She talked yesterday. I couldn’t,” he said. “She got on the mike and thanked everybody for their donations and she especially thanked the people who have been praying. She gave a speech and I cried.”

Jackie Savoy, 49, was diagnosed with advanced renal cell carcinoma in December. The Savoys’ life together changed as she and modern medicine started the crusade against cancer.

What followed between Christmas and Memorial Day were surgeries on her brain, spine and pelvis, hip and knee, all on the left side, and on her right shoulder, her husband said. She has undergone multiple radiation treatments and now is taking chemotherapy pills, he said.

T-Roy, the owner of Cayenne Building Supplies, the family business, has been at her side the entire way. Family and friends have said the business has taken a backseat, understandably, while bills have multiplied.

They have two sons: Sy, who has a law degree, and Ry, who attends the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Before noon Sunday, fundraising event organizers were running low or out of several key parts for the crawfish etouffee and chicken meals being distributed for $8. Food reinforcements continued to arrive to save the day.

They were serving corn with the crawfish etouffee. When corn ran out, Savoy rushed to the store and got peas, which he helped cook and season in a large pot before hurrying to do another task.

“This is unbelievable for me,” volunteer Perry Barras of St. Martinville said as he looked at the line of vehicles stretching from the concession area to Louisiana 96. “I’ve worked some of these already but we never ran out like we did today. But we’re getting some more.”

Savoy said approximately 500 meal tickets were sold in advance. The final tally probably would be closer to 800, he said.

There was an assembly line of volunteers packaging the meals in the concession while others cooked outside. They were there for one reason and one reason only — Coteau Holmes native Jackie Savoy.

Velma Latiolais of Coteau Holmes, a volunteer worker who was preparing food, said, “Oh, she needs help. Everybody’s helping her out. A lot of people are donating and there are a lot of volunteers.”

Latiolais and her daughter, Cara, both wore the T-shirts honoring #TeamJackie.

Annette Trahan and Sherrie Guillot, both of Coteau Holmes, manned the table where half-and-half tickets and tickets for soft drinks and dessert were sold. They stayed busy.

The Savoys are deserving of the outpouring of love, concern and attention, Trahan, the Savoys’ neighbor, said.

“It comes back to you when you’re a giving person,” she said.

On the other end of the pavilion, Carroll Delahoussaye of St. Martinville agreed with that sentiment. Delahoussaye, St. Martinville Senior High athletic director, coached many of the men (including T-Roy Savoy) attending the fundraiser when he coached football for years at SMSH.

“T-Roy helped a bunch of these people. Nobody’s more deserving than him and his family,” Delahoussaye said.

The avid outdoorsman who loves to fish and hunt ducks said he wasn’t surprised by the turnout for the fundraiser.

“It’s always like this for any benefit (in St. Martin Parish). These people out here in Coteau Holmes, Catahoula, St. Martinville, they show up,” Delahoussaye said, emphasizing the last three words. “And when you put food and music together like this, you’re going to have a lot of Cajuns.”

Delahoussaye and his long-time friend Danny Bulliard of St. Martinville were in the 17-boat field that fished the Benefit Bass Tournament for Jackie, which raised $800 (half of the pot went to the Savoys). The anglers weighed in after noon under the pavilion.

As some of those bass fishermen at the weigh-in might say, you should have been there the day before. The first day of the fundraising event wowed even the most veteran of fundraisers.

Savoy, a Catahoula native, estimated there were 600 to 700 people under and around the pavilion Saturday night for the festivities. The live auction and silent auction raised thousands of dollars, he said.

He was almost but not quite speechless about the quantity and quality of donated auction items. A wooden gun cabinet from Cabinets Unlimited in St. Martinville went for $3,100.

Tool boxes, ice chests, grills, etc., were among the other items, he said. He also was impressed by a dining room table with a New Orleans Saints theme from Mike Crochet.