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It’s time to register for the 2025 Surviving & Thriving Retreat, to be held September 19-21 at Summers Mill Retreat Center, 7441 FM 1123, Belton TX 76513. That’s a whole weekend of filling our Minds, Bodies, & Spirits and working on a Community Project.
We’ll be celebrating the Roaring 20s in honor of our 20th year!! So pull out your Roaring 20s styles and register as soon as you can.
More information:
We’ll need your registration in by September 1 if you want a guaranteed T-shirt. Be sure to give us your shirt size.
The cost this year will be:
$65 Early Bird if you register/pay by August 15
$75 if you’re a paid register by September 1
$100 if you wait until September 10 – so BE EARLY!!!
If you’ve attended before, you will be getting a letter with all this information.
Call the numbers listed on the registration form if you need information.
You can pay via credit card.
You may print out the registration form, cut it out, and send it in with a check to Surviving and Thriving Cancer Retreat mailed to Fay Ary Naud, 7604 Serena Lane, Waco.
See you there!!
Retreat Speakers
John Garcia
John Garcia was born the son of a poor Hispanic laborer family. He was told he’d never amount to anything more than a sack boy in the local grocery store. John had other "Visions.“
Besides being a U.S. Air Force Retired Veteran and successful businessman, John is a 21+ year, Cancer Conqueror. He was diagnosed in Jan 2004, with a stage 4 incurable & terminal renal cell (kidney) with a bleak prognosis of only 2 months to live. Now in his thirteenth cancer battle and associated experimental studies… John is hailed as the UNLIMITED warrior, who does not give up, regardless of the obstacles or mountains he must face. His on-stage stories on overcoming adversities are compelling. He shows audiences how to overcome the cancer of the workplace, or the cancer of relationships, or the cancer of workplace malaise, or whatever obstacle or mountains one faces. He is a Master Motivator, author, speaker and subject matter expert!
John is founder and CEO of John Garcia Unlimited, a motivational speaking, training and business consulting enterprise. He is also in the process of creating a 501c3 Non-profit empowerment center, intended to provide services to local disadvantaged communities.
Our Programs
Past Speakers, Projects, and Activities
Some of our past speakers: Docs in the box; Massages by Sandy Turpin; Music Therapy with Kathleen Brown; Lucas Wong, MD, Patsy Sulak, MD and Kathleen Haulka, MD -; psychologists; researchers; missionaries; Sunday devotionals; Thomas Fairlie; Dr Mike Middleton & Clayton Capps, Patti Snyder, Pam Taylor; Zoomba; the Magical Grandpa; Andre Avots-Avotins, MD.
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Some of our community projects: Sewed and stuffed pillows for BSW McClinton Cancer Center in Waco; greeting card packets and stamps for veterans; collected stuffed animals for McLane Children’s Hospital, collected and packaged socks and toiletries for Salvation Army, shoes for Helping Hands Ministry; collected and filled backpacks for Foster Love; gave toy towers to Headstart.
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Past activities: costume/Style Show contests on themes; some of the themes – Texas Ties Us Together (2012), It is Sweet to Be a Survivor (2016,) Victory over Cancer (2018,) New Beginnings (2019,) Cancer Doesn’t Slumber (2020,) Sharing the Love, Sharing the Bond (2021) Light a Candle and Remember 2022, We Can Can Cancer (2023,) The Magic of Miracles (2024.) karaoke night; skits; icebreakers; personal story sharing.
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Fundraisers: Caribbean cruises, gift baskets, bake sales, silent auction at retreat, raffles, the Roaring 20th Concert held at Temple Civic Theatre
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Every year we hold a touching memorial service for those members who have passed away. We memorialize them in photos with music in a slide show, ending with Kathleen Brown singing “The Race,” a song written for her when she was fighting her cancers.
Past Sponsors
Gentiva Hospice
Precious Memories Florist & Gift Shop
Altrusa International of Temple TX
Joe Corbin of JC Roofing
M&D Printing
Generous individual donors
Ann Harder, Central Texas Life Podcast/Rogue Media
Rick Smith & Bill Hecke, KNCT Sunday Gathering
KWTX Channel 10 TV
