Dodgeball for a Cause

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. If you can dodge a ball, you can give to charity this Saturday. (20th Century Fox)

It's not every day that would-be philanthropists find inspiration in a Vince Vaughn movie, but that's how it was with Anna Tiedeman Irwin back in 2005. The public relations maven wanted to create some event to raise money for diabetes and while watching the movie, something just clicked.

"I wanted to do something fun, something that everybody could do," she said. She and co-founder Elizabeth Kramer, both of whom have brothers with type 1 diabetes, pulled the event together in the Stone Ridge high school gym in 2006 and have been organizing it every year since.

The fourth annual Dodging Diabetes Charity Dodgeball Tournament takes place on Saturday in a Rockville rec center. In order to participate in the double-elimination tournament, form a team of 6 to 10 players, come up with the $300 entry fee and sign up on the event's Web site. Registration officially closes on Wednesday, but Irwin says they're likely to extend the deadline until later Friday. Teams show up decked in high-school chic -- expect lots of multi-colored knee socks.

One hundred percent of the proceeds go to the Joslin Diabetes Center. So far, the events have raised more than $30,000 for the cause.

Just want to watch? The event is free and open to the public. It kicks off at 11 a.m.

-- Julia