By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

When Helena resident Reilly Montgomery was 9 years old, her parents took her to the doctor thinking she had a simple bladder infection.

They soon found out she had kidney cancer and endured 28 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation for stage-three cancer.

Now 11 and celebrating one year of remission, Reilly, her mother, Amy Montgomery, and family friend, Kendal Overton, are working to raise funds for childhood cancer.

“Childhood cancer is one of the most under-funded cancers out there,” Amy Montgomery said. “There’s not a lot of things out there for childhood cancer. The color is gold, but most people don’t know that. September is their month, but most people don’t know that either.”

Overton, a freshman at the University of Montevallo, had organized the Miss Love Bug Pageant as a fundraiser to support Reilly Montgomery’s Love Bugs Relay for Life team.

“We’ve always called Reilly ‘Reilly bug,’ and she’s always loved ladybugs,” Amy Montgomery said.

The pageant is not a “glitz pageant,” Amy Montgomery said.

“It’s all natural. We scheduled it after Easter so the younger girls could wear Easter dresses and after prom so the older girls could wear prom dresses and not spend a lot of money,” she said.

The pageant, for girls 2 to 18, will be held at Discover United Methodist Church, which is located at 5487 Stadium Trace Parkway in Hoover at 2 p.m. May 5. Tickets will cost $3. All of the proceeds will benefit Reilly’s Love Bugs Relay for Life team. For more information, email Kendal Overton at kendoll58@gmail.com.