The Minnesota Vikings have been looking to add onto their contributions back in June of $5 million for numerous social justice cases by continuing to actively engage in these cases throughout the 2020 season as well. On September 8th, 2020 the team announced that they will be donating nearly $1 million to go towards the expansion or creation of different social justice cases. This can go towards law enforcement and criminal justice reform, voter registration and education, education on black history, and so much more. The team’s willingness to actively engage in their communities and help make a difference in regards to social injustices is inspiring and should be motivation for other teams to join in, too.
The Vikings are choosing to use their platform effectively by working with the Office of the Secretary of State in order to encourage fans to register and vote. They are making it as easy as possible to educate their fans by redirecting them to all of the right sources to get more information on voting. The team is also helping workers throughout Minnesota that work the voting polls by providing them with protective gear to ensure their safety. The Vikings staff, players, and coaches have all teamed up with Rock the Vote and Secretary of State Steve Simon where they have hosted a series of informative voter sessions as well as making sure the whole organization is registered to vote for the November election.
A local nonprofit social enterprise called All Square invests in the lives of formerly incarcerated individuals. They are centered on a craft grilled cheese restaurant and professional development institute, with a goal to give back to those who were once incarcerated. Their overall mission is to ensure that formerly incarcerated individuals are provided with health, wealth, and social capital to make sure they have a successful and happy future. This can help give them the opportunities they deserve to help them strive to become our country’s next future leader, business owner, entrepreneurs, and more. The Viking’s have chosen to further their commitment to this organization by engaging with All Square’s Fellow & Fellow Alum Fund to help their cause.
Back in June of this year the Vikings created the George Floyd Legacy Scholarship where they endowed $125,000 that will be able to generate $5,000 annually to benefit African American graduating seniors in Minneapolis-St. Paul who are pursuing post-secondary education. As well as this generous contribution, the Vikings will also be hosting a series of Critical Conversation sessions with Minnesota High School athletic programs to help inform them of race and injustice issues. They partnered with RISE, Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality, for these Critical Conversations in order to provide state-wide access for the Minnesota athletic program to help bring light to these important issues.
The list can go on and on for ways that the Vikings Organization has given back in a big way, especially in light of social injustice cases. The team has given back for years to numerous causes such as, Black History Curriculum Expansion in 2016, Project Success in 2019, and all of their efforts to give back this year in light of some major issues. The Vikings were the first NFL team to partner with Everfi in a strong effort to bring a 306 Black History Curriculum to Minnesota students. This curriculum has continued to inspire and inform students of the most important historical stories on Black men and women throughout time.
All of the many efforts and ways that the Vikings team has given back is truly inspiring and should act as motivation for all NFL teams, and all sports teams for that matter, to follow in their footsteps and help make a change in their communities as well. These are the heartwarming stories that make us believe that some good still exists in the world today.
