NFL Awards 5 New Community Relations Grants as Part of Inspire Change Initiative

The NFL has awarded five new grants through its Inspire Change social justice initiative, per the Associated Press.

The new national grant partners help focus on police and community relations:

• Atlanta Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative
• Chicago's Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement Co-Responder Program
• Choose 180
• Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services Community Assistance and Life Liaison Program
• Peace for DC

In 2020, the NFL announced it would commit at least $250 million over 10 years to help fight systemic racism. The league has now donated $244 million, with the five new grant partners receiving a combined $950,000.

The NFL also announced in June it would renew 21 national grant partners, totaling $6.5 million in donations.

Former NFL linebacker Takeo Spikes helped choose the latest grant recipients as part of the Social Justice Working Group, made up of three current players, three former players and five owners. Spikes discussed the value of the group:

"It's awesome because everybody who sits in that room or everybody who has a seat at the table, we all have vested interest. And that vested interest is making sure not only that the communities are being serviced the way that they're supposed to, because we understand that we all have seats in these communities, but more than anything, it's our way of being able to give back and do something that's going to be monumental by having diverse people at the table that come from different backgrounds, different ethnicities."

The NFL also announced the creation of the Inspire Change Changemaker Award, with each of the league's 32 teams selecting a group or individulal as a "changemaker" who will each get $10,000 to donate to the non-profit of their choice.

The winners will be announced in Weeks 15 and 16.