The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is returning this summer in Cass County, and organizers are already hard at work in hopes of topping last year’s event.

The planning committee will host the kickoff celebration for the 2015 Relay at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25, inside the Cass County COA Front Street Crossing building in downtown Dowagiac.

Visitors will be able to listen to a short talk about the purpose of the annual fundraiser, hear a local cancer survivor, and get information about how they can contribute to this year’s event.

“It’s good for people who don’t understand exactly what Relay does, or for those who want to start a team,” said Terri Schmidt, the lead coordinator for the event. “We can give them all the information they need.”

The kickoff celebration will be a great place for longtime supporters and participants of the fundraiser to learn about some of the major changes in store for this year’s rendition. The Relay itself has been moved from late spring, in May, back to the summer, in July. Following suit with other local Relays, it will also no longer take place over a 24-hour period, but will instead take place from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.

This year, the organizers have set a goal to raise $38,000 for the American Cancer Society, Schmidt said. They are also looking to increase the scope of activities taking place during the event, to give teams and visitors additional things to do in between laps.

“We want to raise money, but I also want to get more people to support the Relay as a whole, and the survivors,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt, the longtime leader of the Walkin’ Guardian Angels Relay team, first served as the event chair last year. Despite the cool temperatures and windy conditions experienced at last year’s event, she and her fellow organizers still managed to raise $30,513.

Though this year’s planning committee is already 14 members strong, Schmidt said there is still plenty of room for other interested volunteers to help out with the planning of this year’s event.

“I’ll be a three-year survivor in March,” she said. “I’m still fighting for other people. I want others to come out and fight for survivors or for the people who will suffer from cancer in the future. It could even be them one day. We want to fight to avoid that.”

The 2015 Cass County Relay for Life will take place on July 11 at the Dowagiac Union High School athletic track.

Other major fundraisers will take place in the months leading up to the event, including The Bark for Life, a dog-friendly version of the main Relay that will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 30, also at the high school track; and the Mini Relay for Life, held out at Keeler Church of God on June 28 (times yet to be determined).