Story provided by Alan Babbitt, Hope Athletic Commincations; photo by Tom Renner

Hope College’s Purple Community football game in September raised $13,792.03 for Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Proceeds counted sales of the Flying Dutchmen’s special purple football jerseys and T-shirts, concession donations, and general giving from both the Hope College and local communities.

Hope players wore jerseys with the names of friends and loved ones impacted by cancer and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Hope’s annual Purple Community event helps underwrite a summer internship for a Hope student at Van Andel Institute. Last summer, Philip Versluis, a junior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, interned at Van Andel Institute. He was mentored by Dr. Scott Rothbart, an Assistant Professor in the Van Andel Institute's Center for Epigenetics.

Van Andel Institute employs more than 330 scientists, educators, and staff working to accomplish the mission of improving the health and enhance the lives of current and future generations.

Van Andel Institute scientists are making discoveries and collaborating with scientists and research institutions around the world to move promising therapies into clinical trials. Van Andel Institute also has programs designed to enhance science education across all ages.

Purple Community is Van Andel Institute's grassroots community awareness and fundraising program.

Learn more: Purple Community |  Van Andel Institute