Vikings, Wilf family put $1M toward social justice initiatives

The Minnesota Vikings and the Wilf family, which owns the team, on Thursday announced contributions of around $1 million toward social justice initiatives.

The team said the funding will go toward reducing socioeconomic disparities, expanding the adoption of an educational curriculum on racial equality and Black history, and advocating for law enforcement and criminal justice reform.

More specifically, the team says the funding will support the following organizations:

• LightsOn!, which was founded in Minneapolis after Philando Castile’s death and aims to help low-income people break the cycle of poverty while improving police-community relations.
• TurnSignl, a Minneapolis-based service providing legal guidance for drivers.
• Be the Change Scholarship, which the Vikings created after the murder of George Floyd and benefits African American graduating seniors in the Twin Cities who are pursuing post-secondary education.
• Classroom Champions, which connects volunteer Olympians, Paralympians, student-athletes and professional athletes with kindergarten through eighth-grade students.
• Little Earth Community, the only Urban Native American-preference U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development housing community in the world.
• All Square, a local nonprofit social enterprise that aims to invest in the minds and lives of formerly incarcerated individuals.

Following the donation, the Wilfs have now contributed about $6.5 million to social justice initiatives since 2018.