The social justice initiatives keep rolling in, and now athletes are stepping into the mix to help fight against systemic racism.
New Orleans Pelicans star Jrue Holiday has generously pledged his remaining NBA 2019-2020 salary toward social justice funds and initiatives, BET reports.
In collaboration with his wife and former U.S. women’s soccer team player Lauren Holiday, the two have formed the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Justice Impact Fund.
“I have pledged the remainder of my 2020 NBA salary as a progressive step toward combating systemic racism as well as social and economic inequality that continues to prevent Black communities from upward mobility,” Holiday wrote in his post.
According to his post, the philanthropic fund will assist “Black-led nonprofits, programs and institutions of higher learning” in New Orleans, as well as the Los Angeles area and Indianapolis, where Jrue and Lauren are originally from, respectively.
“To be able to give away our money to help further this movement and black-owned businesses that have taken a hit in COVID-19, to us, it felt like the perfect time and opportunity,” he said in regards to launching the fund ESPN reports.
The purpose of the new fund was for the Holidays to make a lasting impact and bless those who have taken hits from COVID-19 and the recent civil unrest.
“Honestly, when it came down to it, it was me and my wife talking about what we could do to kind of further this movement and progression and being able to help out our community and just being able to help,” Jrue told ESPN.
ESPN reports Holiday is slated to earn $5.3 million from his remaining game checks. His donation in total will support the new fund as well as be distributed amongst the targeted nonprofits, Black-owned businesses, and HBCUs.
Additionally, ten cities that have been devastated by the effects of COVID-19 and received less than 2 percent of the Paycheck Protection Program loans will also be supported, Good Morning America reports.
Since the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others have sparked mass movements across the country, the Holidays have been trying to figure out what they can do to get more involved. They then decided to take this opportunity as a call to action to help their communities.
“With everything going on in this world, it made me and my wife realize that we aren’t invested in our community as we feel we should be,” Jrue said to ESPN. “This is one of those times to really, even though it’s kind of a kick in the pants, you kind of feel like I should’ve known this or I should’ve been doing this before. But you’re never too late. This is our time to contribute.”
For more details on the impact fund, click here.
