Photo by LILA Photo
We are shaped by our life experiences and often choose careers in fields that allow us to make a difference. Toni May lost her father to cancer, and she does not want anyone else to go through that pain.
“You always say you want to do something, but do you really? And now I feel like I really am doing something so no other daughter has to feel like I felt when my dad died,” says May, whose father passed away in 2011. In her new position as Director of Palm Beach County for The Pap Corps, one of the largest all-volunteer fundraising organizations in the state dedicated to raising funds for cancer research at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, she works to expand the membership and donor base.
Since its founding in 1952, the nonprofit has donated more than 110 million dollars to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, including a historic 50 million dollar pledge in 2016.
Almost seventy years ago, The Pap Corps was started by a small group of women and has since grown into an organization of over twenty thousand people, in over fifty chapters, who raise funds to support research for all types of cancers.
May is in her fifties and lives in Jupiter. She has a degree in Broadcast Communication and worked as a television journalist for thirty years and made the transition to doing philanthropic work full-time nine years ago. “I decided to take my talents to help nonprofits tell their own story in order to brand and franchise,” says May. “I accepted the position at Pap Corps because it just fits my mission. I am very passionate about this because both my father and father-in-law passed away from cancer. And a dear friend battled it for quite some time.”
Among other things, Pap Corps is currently helping UM Sylvester raise money to promote awareness and prevention of skin cancer, educating people about how to prevent and treat melanoma, an important topic, since many people have recently relocated to Florida and may not be fully aware of the dangers of sun exposure.
When asked why people should donate their money to Pap Corps, May says, “you know exactly where it’s going. It’s not being spent on lavish parties or fancy offices. It is literally going to cure cancer. It is truly doing what it promises to do seventy years later.”