J.J. Watt is using his platform to help combat dire circumstances in his team’s home city.
The Houston Texans defensive end posted a video to Twitter on Sunday announcing he’s starting a fundraising campaign to provide flood relief for Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
The storm brought record flooding to the city over the weekend that has wrought catastrophic damage;Â more than 30,000 people are expected to be displaced by incredibly high flood waters, while homes and businesses throughout the city have been destroyed.
Watt set up a donation page on YouCaring.com and pledged to match the first $100,000 in donations, per The MMQB’s Peter King. The response to his call has been overwhelming, as the site easily surpassed Watt’s $200,000 goal and was north of $300,000 as of Monday morning.
In fact, the donation page temporarily crashed Sunday night due to heavy traffic, according to Watt.
Watt also has received support from his fellow Houston athletes. Rockets guard Chris Paul told Watt he plans to donate $50,000 toward the relief fund, per King, and was among several Houston stars who offered prayers for the city on Twitter.
Here’s hoping Watt’s efforts help bring some good to a disastrous situation in Houston.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images
