Written by Giavanna Foster

J. J. Watt raised $20M for the Hurricane Harvey relief. Here’s the scoop:

J.J. Watt is an NFL superstar and professional football player. The Houston Texans athlete has received four Pro Bowl selection awards, three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, and two NFL sacks leader awards. Also, Watt set an NFL record by becoming the first defensive football player who scored over 20 sacks in multiple seasons.

In addition to playing football, J. J. Watt is a philanthropist. He is the founder and president of the Justin J. Watt Foundation. This foundation provides after-school opportunities for kids as well as a safe environment for children to practice athletic sports. “Dream Big, Work Hard” is this foundation’s motto. The Charity Classic is one of the foundation’s most popular games. This year, he invited actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Olympic swimming champion Simone Manuel to the Charity Classic game.

Recently J. J. Watt started a crowdraising fund on YouCaring.com. The purpose of this fund is to aid all Houston residents who were affected by Hurricane Harvey. Watt recently visited Houston, Texas to help distribute necessities like food and water:

“The biggest part of it all is to be able to see the power of what can happen when people come together. That’s the beauty of the people in this country… We’re trying to raise as much as we can because we know that these recovery efforts are going to be massive,” Watt said.

With leadership and teamwork, J. J. Watt exemplifies the meaning of a true hero. Over 184 thousand donors helped Watt by sending small and large sums of money. Also, Ellen DeGeneres donated $1 million and Drake sent $200,000 to support Watt’s crowdraising fund. J. J. Watt set the initial goal to $200,000 when he started his crowdraising fund on YouCaring. Now, the funds of his initial goal have multiplied by 100 times. J. J. Watt has successfully achieved the $20 million goal. However, this is only just the beginning.

“Every single time we hit one of these landmarks, I’m amazed. I’ve said it so many times before, but I think the worst times bring out the best in people… We want to take care of the immediate needs first… For the long term, obviously, the plan has changed a little bit since it was a $200,000 goal. You guys are incredible. I understand that you’re trusting me in this situation. So I want to make sure that I do it right. I want to do right by everybody who donated and I want to make sure that we do right by the people of Houston,” Watt stated.

J. J. Watt’s crowdraising fund page has been shared over 480,000 times to Facebook. Click here to go to J. J. Watt’s crowdraising fund page.