The flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey has caused mass amounts of damage in the Houston area and Houston Texans star defensive lineman JJ Watt is looking to do everything he can to help the victims of this horrible natural disaster.
Watt opened a modest little online fundraising campaign on Sunday afternoon with a YouCaring Account, Watt created a plea and a pledge of $100,000 of his own money, the Texans’s star defensive end started something that is making him the face of the relief efforts in Houston:
Recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey will be massive.
We must come together to help rebuild our communities.https://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/iiMsG2i4dl— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 27, 2017
By late morning Tuesday, his effort, has raised over $4 million dollars. Along the way, after every goal was met, Watt increased and increased the pledge. So, he raised it to $2 million, and then $3 million, then $4 million, as each goal was surpassed:
Hit $500k within 24 hours.
I’ve raised the goal to $1 million.
Incredible to witness people coming together for the greater good of humanity pic.twitter.com/ZGllA96pwD— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 28, 2017
$1 MILLION!
New Goal: $1.5 Millionhttps://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/YUzbCLWgBa
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 29, 2017
$1.5 MILLION!
New Goal: $2 Millionhttps://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/sII5OB3seg
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 29, 2017
$2 MILLION!
New Goal: $3 Millionhttps://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/bL1MrkVq1x
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 29, 2017
$3.25 MILLION!
New Goal: $4 Millionhttps://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/uc44NDZv6n
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 29, 2017
Currently, Watt says he’s aiming for $5 million. But at the rate his campaign is reaching these goals, it could soon be raised again — as it has already many times.
$4 MILLION!
New Goal: $5 Million.https://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/HRffs6YcrD
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 30, 2017
Watt’s fundraising efforts received a massive boost Tuesday afternoon, when Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk donated $1 million, which used the fund past $3.25 million, according to Watt. He raised more than $750,000 more in a matter of hours to top $4 million.
“Really can’t even put into words a thank you for the Tennessee Titans organization. Mrs. Amy Adams Strunk, a million dollar donation,” Watt said in a Twitter video posted Tuesday afternoon. “That’s from a team in our division, one of our rivals. But stepping up for the greater good of the people, I cannot thank you enough.”
Watt cashed in on his position as one of the NFL’s most popular and charismatic stars for the cause, capitalizing on his extraordinary reach to 2.7 million Instagram followers and nearly 4 million on Twitter. In addition, he has asked for donations in interviews with CNN, CNN International and “CBS This Morning.” And he hopes that somehow the team’s preseason finale against the Cowboys in Dallas is turned into a fundraiser.
“There are much bigger things than football going on,” he said in a Weather Channel interview, “and I think people understand that and want to support [the victims] … as soon as we get back to Houston we all want to help out in whatever way we can.”
JJ Watt is a true American hero.
