J.J. Watt’s Hurricane Harvey Donation Drive Tops the $15 Million Mark

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt announced Friday that his donation drive for Hurricane Harvey flooding victims has raised over $15 million, far exceeding his initial goal of $200,000.

“Every single time we hit one of these landmarks I’m amazed,” Watt said in a video posted to Twitter. “I’ve said it so many times before but I think the worst times bring out the best in people, and we’re seeing that in abundance right now.”

The NFL player launched the fundraising effort Sunday after seeing the damage Harvey had caused in the Houston area and beyond.

“Where we stand right now is, we want to take care of the immediate needs first, so we have nine semi trucks fully loaded with supplies coming into town this weekend. My teammates and I are going to go directly into the community to some areas that were hit very hard and we’re going to hand those out.”

“I want to do right by everybody who donated, and I want to make sure we do right by the people of Houston. So I’m taking my time to make sure that we do this thing right,” Watt said. “I’m not going to do it hastily, I just want to make sure we do it right.”