The kickoff for the 2012 Relay for Life of Callaway County starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Fulton State Hospital community room in the administrative building.
"It's a great opportunity to see what the relay's all about and find ways to get involved to help us work toward helping find a cure for cancer," said event chairperson Mindy Noel.
The kickoff will include dinner, recognition of last year's top fund raisers, guest speakers, a series of breakout sessions and announcement of the theme for this year's relay, which is to be held on June 22 on the track at Missouri School for the Deaf.
"We'll have sessions on 101 of accounting, how to do fundraising, what goes on at the relay and a session by the representatives of the American Cancer Society," Noel said.
She said there also will be a presentation by the regional Her of Hope - an individual who "has shown themselves to have gone above and beyond in raising funds and awareness" for Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society.
Noel said the kickoff is the ideal opportunity for those who have never participated in the relay before to get the information they need to be successful in their fundraising efforts.