Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford‘s wife, Kelly, turned heads in August with an Instagram post saying that she was wrong about Colin Kaepernick and his protests. She said at the time that they would do their part to help fight social injustice, and then they donated $1.5 million to fund a social justice program for the University of Georgia. Now she has provided updates about some more work in the community.
Kelly posted a series of photos on Instagram showing her and her husband out in the community. They spent time handing out Microsoft Surface tablets and other necessary items for school-aged children in the era of COVID-19. She explained that most of the children do not have the ability to take part in distance learning due to technological issues and that the donation would provide assistance. In order to follow the recommended safety guidelines, the pair wore masks.
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“A couple months ago, Matthew and I were discussing how we can make a difference. We kept bouncing ideas around back and forth,” Kelly wrote on Instagram. “We did the thing with UGA, but we really wanted to effect change in children, where we believe it all starts. We knew that most of Detroit went remote for school due to safety concerns, but problem with that is many of these children don’t have the capability to learn remotely because they don’t have the necessary tools.
“So a few weeks ago we supplied all the kids at the [Say Play Detroit] with Microsoft tablets, books bags, and all the school supplies they could possibly need,” she continued. “[Say Play Detroit] then has the WiFi and safe space for these kids to study and learn. We wanted to try and make it more of a level playing field. We wanted them to have everything they needed so they could have the opportunity to succeed. This is ongoing. Matthew and I will continue to brainstorm to think of ways we can effect change in our community and hopefully effect change further than that.”
As recent years have shown, the Staffords have a close relationship with Say Play Detroit. They helped raise money in 2015 to provide the facility with a brand-new, state-of-the-art football field. Their partnership will likely continue in the future considering that Kelly said that “this is ongoing” in reference to the donation.
A normally quiet player, Stafford became more vocal in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin. He wrote an essay for the Players’ Tribune and said that the NFL season starting was less important than addressing racism and social injustice. He used the locker room and the brotherhood within as an example of what he believes the country should do.
“This is what it means to be a part of a brotherhood. You have your brother’s back when they’re in pain. You listen to them. You try to help,” Stafford wrote. As the donations show, the QB and his wife are taking these words to heart and trying to provide assistance where they can.
