Family and friends can gather at Centennial Field for Nellie’s Catwalk for Kids Kickball tournament Saturday, Oct. 19 from 1 to 5 p.m.

Nellie’s Catwalk is a nonprofit organization that supports pediatric cancer patients, and the organization is planning on using the $5 per-person tournament admission fee to purchase Christmas presents for families who have a child fighting cancer.

Nellie’s Catwalk regional branch manager Kayla Hodnett said the organization helps patients through their journeys financially and emotionally, which varies from paying bills and hospital visits to fun family outings.

The families “give us a list thinking we’re going to buy a few things off of it,” Hodnett said. “But we tend to go big or go home and buy every item off the list.”

She said another goal of the tournament is to spread the word about pediatric cancer.

“Everyone knows that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but not many people know that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month,” Hodnett said. “So we’re trying to take that gold cancer ribbon (for pediatric cancer) into October and even the whole year, not just September.”

A symbolic balloon launch will also take place after the championship tournament. Hodnett said the organization will sell symbolic balloons — with cancer patients’ names written on them — to release into the air.

“It’s simply to have a symbolic meaning of releasing that balloon for someone that you know who has fought cancer and either won or lost because cancer is such an evil thing in this world,” Hodnett said. “We just want to bring everybody together, whether it’s childhood cancer or not and communicate on that level that we have something in common, and we need to continue to fight for it.”

The deadline to register for the tournament is Wednesday. Each team of eight can complete one registration form at http:bit.ly/1c8hkbm.

Contact Hilary Crisan at [email protected].