After a rain delay back in April, Relay for Life will be holding its main event Thursday from 4-9 p.m. at Lions Park.

The event was originally scheduled for mid-April, but the constant rainfall pushed it back to Thursday.

“We are very excited. The weather is going to beautiful. It looks like it was a good choice to move it to this date because our original date was April 17 and it was a washout that day,” said Tina Spidle-Yelverton, relay chairwoman.

Final preparations are underway and Yelverton said the only thing left to do is set up the day of the event.

Relay for Life provides people in Dallas County a way to donate money that comes directly back into the community to help those closest to home.

“Funds that are being raised here in Dallas County will stay here in Dallas County. That money is used for trips back and forth to get treatments, for staying in the Hope Lodge in Birmingham … when they need to stay for treatments if they need to stay overnight,” Yelverton said. “Without this event, there would be a lot of people that couldn’t afford to go get their treatments, that couldn’t afford a place to stay, food to eat or anything else while they’re on their way or even gas to get there.”

Another special part of the event is when everyone lights their luminaries in remembrance of someone, in honor of a survivor or for a caretaker.

“If there’s someone that is a survivor that would like to honor their caregiver, they can do so by getting a gold luminary bag that is a caregiver luminary,” Yelverton said. “From what I’ve experienced so far, when we did the sky lantern event, it was a very touching, very emotional event. It brought out emotions that you don’t normally see every day, but people expressed how it made them feel closer to the person they had lost or the ones that have survived and are still surviving and fighting, it helped them to know that there’s hope, that there are a lot of survivors out there.”

The luminary ceremony will begin a 8 p.m. an people can purchase a bag to decorate leading up to the ceremony.

In their first year as a committee, this year’s Relay for Life set a goal of $115,000 and managed to get together 36 teams.

“We have not yet reached our goal, we’re still striving for that. We still have teams that are fundraising all the way up until Thursday,” Yelverton said.