DOWAGIAC — The usually open and tidy lobby of Dowagiac’s Honor Credit Union has been transformed. Where there was once wide-open space is a black tent, with numerous toy cars hanging from the tent’s brim. Under the tent are bags of popcorn and Honor Credit Union merchandise that anyone walking into the financial institution can pick up — so long as they make a small donation to a charitable cause.

In conjunction with Ed’s Open Header Cruise, Honor Credit Union is currently taking donations for Cass County Cancer Services, which provides services to those suffering from cancer within the county. To help promote the cruise and donations, the credit union is offering swag and gift baskets in addition to raffling off a grill donated by Hale’s Hardware. The tent will be open until Thursday, July 26, the day of Ed’s Open Header Cruise.

“We want to support the cruise and support Cass County Cancer Services,” said Branch Manager Janie Reifenberg.

Ed’s Open Header Cruise is a car cruise hosted annually to support Cass County Cancer Services. The event is hosted in the memory of Ed Kazlauskas, who died of cancer in 2016. A Dowagiac native and owner of Jim D’s Body Shop, Kazlauskas was a local car buff who was instrumental in starting Dowagiac’s Rod and Roll Classic Auto Show. Kazlauskas was also Reifenberg’s brother.

The annual fundraiser will meet at 5:30 p.m. July 26 at Thomas J. Mosier Waterwell Drilling, 21867 M-60 E., Cassopolis. A police escort will then lead the cruise into downtown Dowagiac. Organizers said Dowagiac residents can meet at 6:40 p.m. at the James E. Snow Professional Building in Dowagiac to see the cars roll through downtown. A concert by Out of Favor Boys and a cookout will follow the cruise. Car registration for the cruise is $20 prior to the event. Day-of registration will be $25.

“Every year, Honor [Credit Union] tries to do something in conjunction with the cruise to raise funds for Cass County Cancer Services,” Reifenberg said. “Plus, for me, it is also personal. It allows me to honor my brother.”

Reifenberg said this year’s idea to put the tent in the lobby for donations came together quickly, adding that it was something different than the credit union has done in the past. Already, she said the public is responding well to the project, and that Honor Credit Union received $60 in donations on the first day the tent was set up.

“We are really grateful,” Reifenberg said.

Though her personal connection to Kazlauskas and the open header cruise drives her, Reifenberg said that cancer is something that affects nearly everyone, which is why  she believes it is important for her as a business manager to publicly support organizations like Cass County Cancer Services.

“My motivating factors are that this was my brother and it is cancer, and who hasn’t been touched by cancer?” Reifenberg said. “Plus, for us [as a credit union], we see the value in Cass County Cancer Services and having all that money go back into the community.”

Reifenberg said she is hoping to see a great deal of community participation both in the donations and with the open header cruise.

“I have high hopes,” she said. “This is for a really good cause.”