Colin Kaepernick divulges plan for final $100K of million dollar charitable pledge

ByDARREN ROVELL
January 17, 2018, 2:09 PM

— -- NFL free agent Colin Kaepernick announced Wednesday that, for the final $100,000 of his $1 million pledge to charity, he would announce 10 beneficiaries over the next 10 days. Additionally, each organization picked would receive an additional $10,000 from a different celebrity.

The first charity announced was Silicon Valley De-Bug, a community organization in San Jose and California's South Bay that benefits youth, immigrants and low-wage workers. The match to Kaepernick's $10,000 comes courtesy of? Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant.

The $20,000 total will go to travel stipends for families to visit their loved ones in prison, help to raise awareness toward a campaign toward a law that increases protections to young people in prison, money toward pretrial release for those who can't make bail, and funds to support initiatives that seek to end bail.

Since October 2016, Kaepernick has donated to more than 30 charitable recipients ranging from Mothers Against Police Brutality to the I Will Not Die Young Campaign. His donations have been specifically earmarked for everything from clothing for the needy to caskets for the dead.

Kaepernick, then the backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, announced his pledge after his kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality and and police brutality during the 2016 preseason.

He made $12.3 million in 2016 and was not signed by any team in 2017. In October, he filed a lawsuit against NFL owners alleging that his kneeling during the national anthem led to them colluding to keep him out of the league.