Jake Powers usually takes to the field as a player during the annual Boots vs. Badges slow-pitch softball tournament to help other safety personnel benefit local organizations, but this year, the Burlington firefighter paramedic will throw out the first pitch.

Powers, of West Burlington, was diagnosed in April with acute myeloid leukemia. He since has undergone treatment and currently is unable to work.

Organizer Cale Heitmeier, who, like Powers, is a firefighter paramedic for the Burlington Fire Department, said fellow first responders have decided that money raised from the Boots vs. Badges "Battle of the Counties" tournament on Saturday will go toward medical and household expenses Powers and his wife, Kayla, are facing due to his illness. The couple has two children, Wyatt and Olivia. 

Powers expressed that he is grateful to his colleagues and others for their help. That includes a blood drive in June.  

"It's really great to see people come together and help out one another," said Powers. "Thank you for all the love and support you've given me over the past few months."

Usually, he is on the other side, being one to provide aid to the sick or injured. 

"I think it shows with all the jobs he has how much he cares about his community and country," said Heitmeier. "He is willing to fight for our freedom as well as help save citizens in the community day in and day out. He is a role model to those around him. And you never see him without a smile on his face, even when fighting cancer."

Dedicated to helping people, Powers serves in the Iowa National Guard, is a flight medic for MedForce, and picks up shifts when he can at Henry County EMS. He returned from a one-year deployment to Qatar in 2021. 

In April, Powers was in training when he woke up and could hardly move. 

He went to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics emergency department. Blood tests revealed life-threateningly low blood levels with his hemoglobin at a 6, and he was diagnosed with AML.

According to the American Cancer Society, AML is a kind of cancer that begins in the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow.

He had a lengthy stay in the cancer center at U of I and underwent chemotherapy. 

Powers explained that his sister, Mady Powers of Riverside, provided a match for stem cells. Doctors harvested those from her blood, "and they pumped those into my body, like an IV infusion," he said.

Currently finished with treatment, he "is waiting to see how things go from there," he said. 

"My spirits are up. I am glad to be out of the hospital," he added. 

As for his jobs, "I will return to work once I get medically cleared to do so," he said. 

"Jake is an amazing husband, father, and coworker," Heitmeier said. "He is loved by everyone who gets the chance to be around him and he can brighten the mood in any room. He is one of my best friends and I am lucky to have him in my life." 

Friends and colleagues will take to ball fields at the RecPlex Saturday to support Powers and his family.

Boots vs. Badges "Battle of the Counties" will begin at 10 a.m. Gates open at 9 a.m.

Pending no medical emergencies, MedForce and Air Evac helicopters will fly in just before the tournament starts, and MedForce will deliver the game ball, said Heitmeier. 

The tournament averages about 80 players. Having started in 2016 at Community Field, Boots vs. Badges has raised more than $80,000 total.

The traditional silent auction will this year have more than 60 packages up for bid. 

"The silent auction starts when gates open and closes at 3 p.m. There are a ton of items, one of the best silent auctions you can find in the whole area," said Heitmeier. 

Joining the many and varied packages with tickets, signed jerseys, and a stone fire pit, for example, will be 3-D printed, 2-foot-tall steel signs representing all three badges of the BPD, BFD, and Des Moines County Sheriff's Office, donated by MedForce. 

"(They're) super nice and super expensive pieces," Heitmeier said. "They legitimately look like their badges." 

Saturday's games will take place on three fields, featuring teams from Burlington and West Burlington police, Henry and Louisa County sheriff's departments, Iowa National Guard, MedForce, West Burlington and Burlington firefighters, and Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center and Henry County emergency departments. 

The winners will receive a 5-foot-tall traveling trophy. After COVID-19 waylaid the fundraiser for two years, Burlington Police Department won the 2021 tournament. 

T-shirt sales at the tournament also will benefit Powers and his family. People will be able to order the shirts online for a couple of weeks after the tournament. 

Heitmeier will post a link on the event's Facebook page. 

Besides being a fundraiser, Boots vs. Badges provides a chance for the different departments and people who attend the games to have fun, meet, and perhaps make friends, Heitmeier explained. 

More:'They're not scary': Community members mingle with first responders at National Night Out

He said he continues to accept donations for Saturday's silent auction, and people can contact him for that also through the event's Facebook page. 

Support from individuals and businesses makes the event possible, he said. 

"We appreciate all the support we continue to have. It is nice to see the community come together," Heitmeier said. "A big thank you to everybody for everything." 

In the past, funds raised have gone to organizations such as the Burlington Police Department's then-new K-9 unit, Bridges Out of Poverty, local fire departments, and the family of the late BPD Sgt. William Venvertloh, who died at the age of 48 following a 23-year career with the department. 

Admission to Boots vs. Badges is $5 per person ages 5 and up and free for children under age 5. There will be children's activities like coloring and crafts. 

A GoFundMe page for the Powers' family so far has raised $13,165 of its $15,000 goal.