Matthew and Kelly Stafford Pledging $1 million to Build Detroit Education Center

After 12 years with the Detroit Lions, Matthew Stafford is moving on and will play for the L.A. Rams next season.

In honor of the Motor City, Stafford and his wife, Kelly, have announced they are donating $1 million to help build a new education center with SAY Detroit.

SAY Detroit is a nonprofit organization that helps students from low-income families with literacy and education.

The money will be used to build “The Kelly and Matthew Stafford & Friends Education Center” in Detroit’s Lipke Park, where SAY Detroit’s Play Center is located. The building will offer six classrooms, learning labs, an auditorium and vocational training space.

“There are not enough words to truly express how grateful we are to have lived here for the past 12 years,” Kelly Stafford wrote in an Instagram post. “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."

She added, "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.”