DETROIT (WXYZ) — Former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly were in Detroit Friday for the groundbreaking ceremony of an expansion to the SAY Detroit Play Center.
SAY Detroit, located on Van Dyke Avenue near 7 Mile Road, opened in 2015. It's an after-school program for students 8 to 18 years old. The expansion will be a new education center.
The addition is being named the Kelly and Matthew Stafford & Friends Education Center and is set to be completed in late 2023.
Kelly Stafford says: “we may reside in California now, but Detroit will always be where our hearts are.” pic.twitter.com/hUMCxXBYxM
— Jeanna Trotman (@JeannaTrotmanTV) April 22, 2022
The Stafford donated $1 million toward the expansion before leaving Detroit for Los Angeles. Leaders say they couple has been involved with the project since the early stages.
Several organizations also contributed including the AA Van Elslander Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Trinity Health, The Forbes Company, Artichoke Garlic Foundation and Tom Gores Family Foundation.
Mayor Mike Duggan and other community leaders attended the event.
“This is a game changer for SAY Play,’’ Mitch Albom, SAY Detroit founder, said in a statement. “It enables us to accommodate a much larger number of students in a first-class learning structure, providing a wide gamut of educational choices. We are grateful to Kelly and Matthew, and the other funders, who made this dream possible.’’
I only ask the hard-hitting questions. I asked Matthew Stafford about his @ATT commercial where he jokes about trading in an old phone that he loved for 12 years (Detroit) for a new phone (LA).
— Jeanna Trotman (@JeannaTrotmanTV) April 22, 2022
He laughed and said he didn't write any of it, but "it was a perfect script." pic.twitter.com/Tm4h4XJJws
