HOUSTON, Texas -- Houston Texans DE JJ Watt on Thursday, October 26th offered an update on his Hurricane Harvey relief effort -- spelling out how the more than $37 million raised will be spent to help victims.
Watt began his video update, posted to social media, by apologizing that it's been a bit since his last update, saying "I didn't anticipate breaking my leg, so that threw a bit of a wrench into things."
He broke his leg on October 8th vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.
Watt said he's taking a four-pronged approach when it comes to helping Harvey victims with $30.15 million of the money he's raised. He has a goal of rebuilding and restoring devastated homes, restoring childcare centers and after-school programs, providing food to those in need, and providing professional medical services, including physical and mental health services.
He's partnered with four non-profit organizations in an effort to accomplish these goals:
Watt said these non-profits are "boots on the ground in Houston," and their networks will reach the entire area affected by Harvey.
He'll hold onto $7 million for now and distribute it next year after his group assesses the continuing relief efforts.
He again thanked everyone who donated to his Hurricane Harvey YouCaring account.
"You have truly shown what is possible when everyone bands together for one common cause. While we are going to do some truly incredible things with this $37 million to make it stretch as far as possible, it is only one small step in the massive recovery effort that lies ahead," Watt said.
A total of $37,068,042 was raised in the online fundraiser that closed on September 15th.
In the latest update on the fundraising page, Watt writes, in part: