As UGA great Matthew Stafford and his family prepare to depart Detroit for Los Angeles, the Lions’ quarterback left one last gift for Motown.
Stafford’s wife, Kelly, posted a statement announcing a $1 million gift to fund the Kelly and Matthew Stafford and Friends Education Center for SAY Detroit, the nonprofit organization founded by sportswriter and author Mitch Albom.
Kelly Stafford posted the following on her Instagram account:
Our final thank you.
There are not enough words to truly express how grateful we are to have lived here for the past 12 years. We came here for football, but we are leaving with a sense of home and endearment. Endearment not only for this city and the Lions organization, but a love for the people who make up this community. Detroit has supported our family not only by showing up on Sundays, but also through our most difficult times. You took us in as your own and made Detroit feel like home and that is what it became, our home.
It has been our goal to always give back to the city. Detroit and its people have blessed us in so many ways, we only hope you have felt our gratitude through our joy of giving back to the city. As we sat down and tried to figure out how to thank you one last time, we felt like words were not sufficient. And so, we have teamed with Mitch Albom to create an education center that will be attached to the SAY PLAY Center where Stafford Field is also located. The new building will enable the Center to increase its student population who benefit from the center’s academic, athletic and arts programs, and service adults with job training programs, GED classes, and community events. This is the legacy we want to leave behind. We would love for you to be a part of it with us…to be a part of this legacy of making a positive impact in so many Detroiters’ lives. If you would like to get involved, I have placed a link in my bio and in my story so that you will be able to do so. Think of the difference we could make together for the thousands of people in city of Detroit.
You will always remember Matthew Stafford as a Detroit Lions quarterback, but our hope is that you will also remember our family for our love of the Detroit community and its people.
Thank you Detroit, for everything.
#StaffordStrong
The Staffords’ donation will help fund a 20,000-square-foot facility on the grounds of Detroit’s Lipke Park. The building will include classrooms, learning labs and an auditorium that will help students with vocational and technical training.
The project is the Staffords’ second significant donation to the center. In 2015, Kelly and Matthew pledged $1 million after the park was closed due to city budget cuts. This is just a long list of philanthropic contributions made by the family. In August, the Stafford family donated $1.5 million to the University of Georgia’s new social justice initiative.
Stafford was the No.1 draft pick in the 2009 NFL draft. He has played 12 seasons for Detroit and holds nearly every career passing record for the franchise.