Milwaukee Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday and two-time Olympic soccer medalist Lauren Holiday (who are married) have announced they’re opening the second round of applications for the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund, reports ESPN.
The fund is intended to give Black-led nonprofits and Black-owned businesses up to $1 million in grants. The fund stated that it will be focusing on the Greater Milwaukee, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles areas, with additional consideration given to organizations focused on social impact.
“When we first decided to start this fund, it was at an inflection point of two pandemics — the disproportionate effects that COVID-19 had on the Black community and businesses, and equally as devastating, the murders of George Floyd and many other unarmed Black people – resulting in an overwhelming feeling of helplessness,” the Holidays said in a press release. “We are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to help people through the JLH Fund and will continue to do this work and make the greatest impact possible.”
In July of 2020, the Holidays started the fund with the remainder of Jrue Holiday’s NBA game checks, totaling $5.3 million. Jrue Holiday told ESPN’s Andrew Lopez that he and his wife were looking for ways to make an impact in their community.
“We were just kind of sitting in the house, in the bed, thinking about it, and my wife said, ‘I think you should do this and you should do the rest of your salary’,” Holiday said in 2020. “That’s a great idea. Because we want to make an impact. God has blessed us with so much. We know a couple of things that are important are time and money, and right now, we have both. 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.”
