This week’s high school basketball games at Wyoming High School will offer more than simply great prep action between the boys and girls teams of visiting East Kentwood and the host Wolves. It will also offer showcase the Van Andel Institute’s efforts to battle cancer and Parkinson’s disease as a special Purple Community Night Basketball Game.

The twin-bill of games will start with the boys game at 5:30 p.m. and the girls game at 7:30 p.m.

 
Purple Community, according to supplied information, is the Van Andel Institute’s grassroots fundraising and awareness program, and “connects individuals, schools, teams and businesses to the resources needed to support groundbreaking cancer and Parkinson’s disease research.”

 
A series of local Purple Community events “bring people from every walk of life together to celebrate the power of family, friendship and community action. We also give people the chance to honor those fighting disease and pay tribute to those who have lost their fight against cancer and Parkinson’s. Every event is a collection of stories — people coming together to support one another and help make the world a better, healthier place.”

 
Additionally, when people fundraise through the Purple Community, each game night donation effort efforts go further thanks to a endowment from Jay and Betty Van Andel, where every dollar of every donation goes directly to the cause — 100 percent of the funds support Van Andel Institute scientists and the vital research they are doing.

For more information on the Purple Community visit here.