Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Pledges Support to Staffords' Charitable Farewell to Detroiters

Karly Hurley

| 2 min read

Rendering of Say Play Detroit's planned Kelly and Matthew Stafford and Friends Center
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is proud to join Matthew and Kelly Stafford’s display of commitment to Detroiters through the donation of $150,000 to SAY Play’s campaign to build a new state of the art education center at Lipke Park in Detroit. The 20,000-square-foot facility will include six classrooms, learning labs, vocational training space and a theater/auditorium, allowing SAY Detroit, founded by Mitch Albom in 2006, to expand its services and house a growing and diverse range of programming for kids, teens and adults. The Stafford’s kicked off the campaign with a pledge of $1 million. “People build lasting legacies in Detroit with hard work and kind hearts,” said Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan CEO Daniel J. Loepp, a native Detroiter. “Matthew and Kelly Stafford are creating a lasting legacy with SAY Play, one that will continue to improve young lives in the community.” Blue Cross’ contribution to the campaign reflects our partnership with Matthew Stafford over the past 11 years to invest in healthy children and communities in the city of Detroit and across the state. The new SAY Play center, “The Kelly and Matthew Stafford and Friends Education Center,” will enable SAY Detroit to greatly increase its student population through new academic, computer and arts programs in addition to servicing adults with GED classes, training initiatives and community events. The mission of SAY Play is to assist students from low-income families overcome literacy inequities and educational challenges while improving themselves and their communities. SAY Play is a project of SAY Detroit which Albom established to improve the lives of Detroit’s neediest citizens through shelter, food, medical care, volunteer efforts and education. The nonprofit is accepting all donations, both corporate and individual, at saydetroit.org.

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3 Comments

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Blues Perspectives

Mar 24, 2021 at 12:37pm

Hi Matt, Within the last year, we announced a number of premium refunds. These refunds are in addition to $494 million that we invested in expanding the availability of no-cost benefits for members and to support health providers in response to COVID-19 – bringing the BCBSM enterprise’s commitment to nearly $600 million. Here are more ways we have given back to our members and customers: https://www.mibluesperspectives.com/2020/05/20/blue-cross-blue-shield-of-michigan-returns-money-to-customers-individuals/

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Matt P

Feb 16, 2021 at 3:30pm

It's great you're doing charity work but my payroll deductions have increased exponentially over the years to pay for my medical benefits. I am asked to pay more and more out of pocket for my appointments, tests, and procedures. Your company takes a crazy amount of money from me and everyone else you "insure" but at least you get to look like the good guys here. Maybe your member should get that credit instead of you.

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Toni Dreist

Feb 13, 2021 at 1:01am

Proud of the company I work for making this donation. We also made a donation and I think it’s wonderful for the Stafford family to leave behind such a lasting legacy for years to come.

MI Blues Perspectives is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit, independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association