As part of his contribution to the Griese-Hutchinson-Woodson fundraiser gala on Saturday night, Matthew Stafford donated a package of six tickets and travel to the Lions Monday Night Football game against the Bears in Chicago this October. His generosity did not stop there. The package sold for $15,000 at the auction, which raised money to benefit the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. The winning bidder? Matthew Stafford.
Stafford purchased his own gift and gave it to a young patient at the hospital named Faith Falzone, whom he was sitting with at the fundraiser. According to the Detroit News, Stafford and his girlfriend Kelly Hall have gotten to know the Falzone family and were touched by their story.
“They have been through so much in the past couple years, and to see how much they all supported each other and faith through their tough times was really inspiring” Stafford explained.
Two of the six tickets in Stafford’s package were donated by ESPN announcer Mike Tirico. The fundraiser was organized by former Michigan players Brian Griese, Charles Woodson, and Steve Hutchinson. The event raised over $1.5 million this year and has raised more than $5.5 million over the past six. Could Stafford have simply given the ticket package to Falzone and made her just as happy? Sure, but he decided to donate $15,000 to the foundation while he was at it.
“To have a guy that’s from Georgia get drafted by the Lions and be a very integral part of that team turning their franchise around,” Hutchinson said when asked about Stafford’s genorosity, “and then to be able to come to a U-M event that he has no affiliation with and donate $15,000 and buy his own tickets that he donated and then give them to a family whose daughter is going to have surgery in the next couple days here … you couldn’t write a better fictional story if you had to.”
Indeed you could not. Extremely classy move by Stafford and an A+ for unique execution.
H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo credit: Tim Fuller-US PRESSWIRE
