Kelly Cares Foundation supports new scholarship

There were few dry eyes in the house after former Laker football coach Brian Kelly and his wife, Paqui, announced their support for a Grand Valley scholarship that honors a Laker legend.

The Kelly Cares Foundation presented a $50,000 check to the Hosford Family Scholarship, which honors Jamie Hosford, a 12-time Laker letterwinner who died in March. The foundation held its annual golf outing June 23 at Blythefield Country Club.

Kelly, who coached the Lakers from 1991-2003, said his family continues to come back to West Michigan because “this is where we started our journey.”

“The foundation started here and we wanted to come back here to help out,” said Kelly, head coach at the University of Notre Dame. He said education was important to Hosford, a longtime Rockford Public Schools administrator, and supporting education is one of the Kelly Cares hallmarks.

Dan and Tom Hosford played for Kelly on the first Grand Valley national championship team (2002). Dan Hosford said his family was planning a scholarship to honor Jamie before he passed away. The Kelly Cares support means the scholarship can be awarded in the fall of 2015.

The Hosford Family Scholarship will be awarded to qualified students from Rockford High School.

For more about the Kelly Cares Foundation, click here.