The Montgomery County BackStoppers organization is putting together a fundraising event that would bring some fun for people of all ages.

BackStoppers is holding its first kickball tournament on Sept. 6 at the New Florence Ballpark. A rule meeting is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. and the tournament starts at 8 a.m.

Jes Schlanker, who is a board member of the Backstoppers, is the tournament’s organizer. She said she is thrilled to put together an event that will raise money to help out the first responders.

“Through several meetings, Backstoppers was known for locally doing a lot of fundraising,” Schlanker said. “This is our very first event. We wanted to be something that’s a little bit more diverse than what we have seen previously offered in the community. We thought kickball would be a really fun time.”

The cost is $40 per player. A team needs to have 10 players, but no more than 14. A T-shirt is included in the registration fee.

“That money that we raise will directly go to Backstoppers to go towards supporting our local first responders,” Schlanker said. “It’s really important that people find out and understand exactly what Backstoppers is because we live in such a small community. We have a diverse variety of first responders, some of them are paid such as the police departments and the ambulance people. But we also have a huge number of volunteer firefighters.”

Coolers are permitted at the tournament. The fee is $20.

“That is absolutely optional,” Schlanker said. “We thought that it would be a great opportunity, especially for families that may have specific dietary needs. They could pack whatever they wanted for their families and their team to have everything that they need for the whole day if they wanted to. They can have complete total access to it. We thought it could be an extra way to support Backstoppers by offering that option. We plan to have food and drink available, but we thought this would offer a little bit of diversity when it comes to how families are enjoying themselves for the day.”

Schlanker said the tournament is still looking for more players. Registration is open until the day of the event. Medals will be awarded to the top three teams in the tournament.

“We didn’t have as much of a turnout as we expected,” Schlanker said. “I think it is already a great learning experience for how we can change things and make things even better for next year. I believe we’re expected to have five teams that are going to play and it’s going to be a double-elimination tournament.”

Based in St. Louis, the BackStoppers were founded in 1959 and have helped over 180 families since then. In 2022, Montgomery County was invited to join the BackStoppers organization, which has helped plenty of families of first responders such as police officers, firefighters and EMS workers.

Schlanker, a Montgomery City native, joined the BackStoppers board of directors last year.

“I was asked to join,” Schlanker said. “Once I did a little bit more research on what exactly Backstoppers is and how important it is, I felt it was not something I could say no to to be a part of this. I feel like living in such a small community, there’s not a time in someone’s life that we live here that you aren’t going to need one of these first responders.”

To register, contact Schlanker at 573-721-3195.