Build a Team of Hope presents
Dinner • Drinks • Entertainment • Giving
Who we are
Build a Team of Hope is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing hope, help, and support to individuals and families facing cancer. Inspired by Mary Rapelje’s strength and compassion, we provide financial assistance, resources, and programs that ease the burdens families carry during one of the hardest times of their lives.
Families facing cancer
Financial assistance and resources
A community of hope
Two events. One mission. More hope.
Blackout for Hope is a brand-new addition to our calendar, and our annual Golf Outing is continuing too.
New for 2027
Dinner • Drinks • Entertainment • Giving
Our annual tradition
Real people. Real help. Real hope.
Through the Mary Rapelje Memorial Fund at Bronson Health Foundation, we’ve helped cover needs that insurance and tight budgets couldn’t: housing support for patients facing eviction during treatment, dental care so a patient could start chemo, nutritional supplements, a Hoyer lift, and a bariatric infusion chair for the Kalamazoo Cancer Center.
Our 2025 pledge to Bronson Health Foundation covers a full year of the Beautiful You boutique at the Bronson Kalamazoo Cancer Center: wig fittings, head coverings, nail and skin care, and chemo comfort bags that help patients feel like themselves during treatment.
A life that still inspires so much good
Mary Rapelje was a wife, mother, sister, aunt, cousin, and grandmother who spent her life lifting up the people around her. In October 2020, her daughters and sons-in-law held the very first Build a Team of Hope golf outing, and Mary was there to see the beginning of her legacy. She passed away that November, and her compassion lives on in everything we do.
Her light continues to help so many.
There are many ways to make a difference
Stay connected: follow Build a Team of Hope on Facebook
