Detroit Lions to award nearly $600,000 in grants to 9 local charities

The Detroit Lions will award nearly $600,000 in grants to local charities next year through the organization's social justice initiative, "Inspire Change," the team announced Thursday.

The program was borne of a contentious 2017 season, when eight Lions joined players across the NFL in taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem to protest social injustices and demonstrate against insensitive remarks made by President Donald Trump.

Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford met with players the following week and said she would donate money and her name to causes important to the players if they refrained from protesting during the anthem.

Last year, Ford and the Lions pledged about $600,000 to those causes, with Ford matching player contributions, to help fund scholarships, programs and initiatives for eight groups, including the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS); the Detroit Justice Center; and the CATCH charity for children.

Along with TAPS, the Detroit Justice Center and CATCH, the 2020 donations will help provide scholarships for Detroit Lions Academy and the Brotherhood & Sisterhood programs of the Detroit Public Safety Foundation; and help fund social and educational programs at the Downtown Boxing Gym; the HAVEN shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault; the Pure Heart Foundation, which helps children of incarcerated parents; and the Empowerment Plan, which hires and trains single parents from local homeless shelters.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.