Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly, along with Georgia football coach Kirby Smart and his wife, Mary Beth, have endowed a $500,000 program at the University of Georgia to focus on diversity, inclusion, equity and social justice.
The school announced the endowment, which will allow the initiative to go on in perpetuity, on Friday. The Staffords contributed $350,000 of the endowment, with the Smarts donating the rest.
This is part a larger, unknown, gift made by the Staffords to the school they both attended.
"I am grateful to Matthew Stafford and coach Kirby Smart for their generous gifts to fund this important initiative and am excited about the opportunity the program presents for us to promote an inclusive culture among our student-athletes, coaches and staff," Georgia President Jere W. Morehead said in a statement released by the university.
The program created by the endowment is going to create educational programs and implement different opportunities around the areas of diversity, inclusion and social justice within the university and its athletic department.
In Detroit, Stafford is part of the Lions player coalition that works on social justice initiatives set up within the organization and last month was part of a town hall to discuss the importance of registering to vote and voting.
Stafford also has made large contributions to help rebuild the SAY Detroit Play Center, a community center.