Last year, then New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday pledged the remainder of his NBA 2019-2020 salary ($5.3 million) toward his newly-established Social Justice Impact Fund.

According to Bleacher Report, the Milwaukee Bucks player is following up on that progress to announce the second round of applications distributing up to $1 million in grants to Black-led nonprofits and Black-owned businesses in select U.S. cities.

A press release reports that this time around the focus of the grants from the Jrue and Lauren Holiday Fund (JLH Fund) will be allocated to the Greater Milwaukee, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Los Angeles areas, primarily catering to organizations that focus on having a social impact and creating a more equitable future for marginalized communities.

“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,” Holiday and his wife shared in a statement. “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.”

Last year, Holiday spoke to ESPN about how he felt as if his family wasn’t taking an active role in helping their community. According to him, the nationwide protests following George Floyd’s death is what motivated him and his wife to start their social impact fund.

“With everything going on in this world, it made me and my wife realize that we aren’t invested in our community as we feel we should be,” he said. “This is one of those times to really, even though it’s kind of a kick in the pants, you kind of feel like I should’ve known this or I should’ve been doing this before. But you’re never too late. This is our time to contribute.”

Check out the JLH Fund Press Release to see how to apply today for @thejlhfund #socialimpact grants. Grants will total up to $1,000,000 for Round 2! pic.twitter.com/HcRdb98BAX

— Jrue Holiday (@Jrue_Holiday11) May 17, 2021

In addition to its $1 million funding, the JLH Fund is also working with Microsoft’s Nonprofit Tech Acceleration (NTA) for Black & African American Communities to provide technology and IT support services to all nonprofits that apply for grants, a press release shares. The purpose behind this is to also increase the impact of their respective missions.

“Building a community of support for Black and African American nonprofits is fundamental in advancing their missions,” Darrell Booker, head of Microsoft NTA, said in a statement. We look forward to working with these nonprofits to ensure they have the technology they need to be as efficient and productive as possible in their operations.”

For more information on how to apply for the JLH Fund, click here.

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