J.J. Watt's Hurricane Harvey Fundraiser Closes with over $37M in Donations

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt ended his hurricane relief fund Friday, with donations reaching more than $37 million.                             

The YouCaring page Watt set up to aid those affected by Hurricane Harvey finished with a total of $37,097,298—an exponentially higher figure than the $200,000 he initially hoped to raise. More than 200,000 people donated to the cause.

Watt discussed the fundraising effort Thursday in a postgame appearance on NFL Network. 

"This next couple days is very big," Watt said. "We're stopping the fundraising on Friday at 5 p.m. [CT] to make sure that we can figure out exactly what we're going to do. We've already been in the process of that. I'm meeting with organizations and people that are in Houston, because we're trying to make sure the money stays in Houston and the surrounding areas and it goes directly to the people, not to overhead cost.

"So I'm working with organizations, and I'm going to get the best organizations in each category that I want to help. Things like rebuilding houses. Things like food. Things like schools for the kids. Making sure that we take care of all these different areas."

Texas officials believe eighty-two people died as the result of Harvey, a record-setting storm that hit landfall in Texas last month. Thousands of people were left displaced or had their homes destroyed. Relief efforts in Houston and its surrounding areas are expected to take years.