Houston Texans star and Pewaukee native J.J. Watt put his words into action Sunday, distributing donated goods for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
The four-time Pro Bowl linebacker hosted an event in Houston, unloading trucks full of items.
"It's very difficult to watch your family, your friends, your city go through a time like this and not be there to help, not be there to go through it with them, not be there to experience it. Our thoughts are most definitely with everybody, we hope everybody stays safe," Watt said.
Several of Watt's teammates were on hand to help out, even though some of them were personally affected by the natural disaster.
"It's tough not to be there," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "We have players dealing with water in their homes, we have three coaches in neighborhoods where there are mandatory evacuations, a couple coaches in neighborhoods where there are voluntary evacuations, players the same thing. Try to do the best we can to keep everybody together. We have an incredible group of players."
Watt's Houston Flood Relief Fund is approaching $19 million as of Labor Day, officially becoming the largest and fastest-growing charitable crowd funding campaign in crowdfunding history.
More than 100,000 people have donated funds, including celebrities such as hip hop star Drake, who issued a video message of support to the city, Tom Brady, Ellen DeGeneres and organizations such as the Green Bay Packers.
The vast majority of donations were under $100 each from Americans across the country.
"We know what's about to happen, once the storm stops there's gonna be a massive recovery effort. We want to be there, we want to be ahead of it, so we can get a jump-start on getting these people back on their feet," Watt said Sunday.
