Fundraiser set for Saturday for 5-year-old Indio girl battling cancer

A fundraising festival is scheduled Saturday for a 5-year-old Indio girl battling late-stage cancer.

Desirae Cechin — who goes by Desi — was diagnosed in April with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma, which affects the nervous system. The Believing For Desi fund was started to raise money for her treatment, including a trip to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

On Saturday, the Believing For Desi Festival is scheduled to run from 1 to 10 p.m. at the Fullenwider Auditorium at the Date Festival grounds in Indio, 82-503 Highway 111. Boxing champion and Coachella Valley native Timothy Bradley Jr. is scheduled to make an appearance, and organizers are planning entertainment and vendor booths. Admission is $10; children age 10 and under are free.

So far, $200,000 of the $300,000 needed for the New York trip and treatment has been raised, according to the Believing For Desi Facebook page.

The girl has been getting chemotherapy at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, according to her fundraising website.

For more information, go to the Believing For Desi Facebook page or www.youcaring.com.