LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Good Morning America’ was blessed with the presence of Hollywood actor and Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey on Thursday. However, the 53-year-old actor was not on air to promote a film or a show but for a great cause, a cause that is extremely personal to him. Matthew is now an activist on a mission to help make schools and students safer through his new Greenlights Grant Initiative.
George Stephanopoulos welcomed Matthew on the show by letting the viewers know about Matthew’s charge to make schools in the United States free from gun violence, especially after a tragic mass shooting in the actors’ hometown at Robb Elementary School left 19 children and two teachers dead last year. Matthew was ecstatic to share the true purpose of his initiative which prompted ‘GMA’ host Robin Roberts to intervene and ask him to elaborate on his charge to make schools in America safer
What is the Greenlights Grant Initiative?
Greenlights Grant Initiative is an online portal to help schools and families across the country access funding through the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which sets aside billions of dollars to make American schools safer between now and 2026. Robin was listening to Matthew explain the details of the initiative and complimented his passion. The ‘GMA’ host said, “Matthew your passion is evident. I saw it on full display when I was with you some months ago at an event for Sandy Hook.” She then moved on to her question and asked Matthew, “What is your call to action for all of us?”
Matthew replied, “The call to action is to go right now to greenlightsgrantinitiative.org. Go to your superintendent, that's the person that's going to need to file the grant," he continued. "As we know the superintendents at many of the schools that are high risk, they're wearing three or four hats -- they don't have time or the resources to fill out these grants. These grants are intimidating.” Matthew later broke it down and stated, “We have a menu of what grants are available, we'll tell you the deadlines, the windows for which the grant is available, which grant is right for you. We will have grant writers that will write some of the grants for the highest-risk schools. We will have grant writers and small tutorials that will be there to walk you through the grant writing process so you can write a competitive grant.”
Why did Matthew McConaughey start the Greenlights Grant Initiative?
Matthew was deeply moved after the mass shooting in Ulvade, Texas in May 2022. He made a passionate speech at the White House earlier this year, begging the government to pass stricter gun laws while pushing for school funding to help establish mental health services, security and see that the money is allocated appropriately. During the interview at ‘GMA’, Matthew reminded the hosts of the repercussions if the schools fail to use the money available to them. He said, "If we don't use this money -- if it's not allocated now by schools -- it will be redistributed in 2026.” Matthew continues his crusade to make schools across America safer and free of gun violence.
