She may not look like it; she may not even act like it. But don't be fooled by her friendly, helpful demeanor. She is a fighter, and she's as tough as they come.

For the past 31 years, she's waged a battle against the second-leading cause of death in the United States--cancer.

It started not long after she was diagnosed with breast cancer as a 30-year-old, and it's continued through another bout with lymphona that was diagnosed last year. While others may have withdrawn to lament their own misfortune, Gay Crawford simply worked harder to battle the disease on all fronts as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society.

So when her named was announced as the winner of the Patient Courage Award at the society's annual recognition and appreciation event on May 4 at Lou's Village in San Jose, the standing ovation she received was for more than beating cancer twice--it was for a lifetime of dedication in the fight against the dreaded disease.

Crawford was one of many volunteers and community members honored with awards at the recognition event, but her's was the most poignant presentation.

"As a two-time cancer survivor, Gay serves as an inspiration to all who know her for her grace, courage and unwavering dedication to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families," said the society's program that night.

But Dr. George Fisher, an oncologist at Stanford University Hospital, summed it up the best when he said, "No one saves more lives than Gay Crawford."

The crowd roared its approval, and for good reason. Crawford's most recent fight has been against colon cancer, and she's teamed with Dr. Richard Adrouny to lead the effort to eradicate the disease through their Colon Cancer Free Zone program.

During March, the American Cancer Society conducted Colon Cancer Awareness Month, and thanks to the efforts of Crawford and Adrouny it was a celebration this year.

"Every city in the county of Santa Clara is now part of the zone," said Crawford of the Colon Cancer Free Zone that started two years ago with its inception in Monte Sereno. "Now we have to work on how to measure it, and how do we keep it going."

"Other cities are picking up on the idea that it is preventable and we can get our hands around it," she said.

Crawford is a champion in the fight against colon cancer, and it's because of her tremendous volunteer spirit and dedication in that fight that she was among the May honorees.

Jan Willoughby was presented the Brookes H. Brown Award for Excellence in Volunteerism, an award presented to "an individual who has shown broad participation in many aspects of the American Cancer Society."

Dr. Marty Fenstersheib of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department won the society's Collaboration Award, and Citti's Florist was given the Corporate Champion Excellence in Volunteerism Award for the donation of time, service and flowers for Daffodil Days and Courageous Kids' Days.

Brookes Brown of Los Gatos won the Dare to Do Award for her leadership in developing the Holiday Shopping Card that helped raise $31,000 for the society.

Discovery Shop Awards for Excellence in Volunteerism were given to Nancy Kleist of Sunnyvale, Florence Lambert of Los Gatos and Beth Rondone of San Jose, and Dr. Huy Trinh and Dr. James B. Huggins were honored with the Diversity Award for Exceptional Volunteerism.

Winning the Rookie of the Year Award was volunteer Lynne Nguyen, and Susan Morgan was presented the Ruth Hunter Memorial Award as the outstanding office volunteer.

College student Dallas Chambers and Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn were the recipients of Special Recognition Awards, and Mary Boyd, Grace Tan, Dianne Lewandowski and Dave Regan were given Excellence in Community Volunteerism Awards.

Linda Ankeny, oncology nurse at the Community Hospital of Los Gatos, was presented the Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award, and Stephanie H. Lane was honored with the Raising the Standards of Compassion Award.

Silicon Valley Community Newspapers and the Times Newspaper Group were both recognized for the Caring Through Communication Award.

Still, while other award recipients were no doubt deserving, it was Gay Crawford who the night's crowd wanted to honor for her 31-year mission to lead the fight against cancer.

But, then, Gay Crawford's not just a fighter, she's a winner.