Watt details plan for Harvey funds
Over $30 million to be split among four focused charities
Texans star J.J. Watt on Thursday said he will direct $30.15 million of the funds he raised for Hurricane Harvey relief to four partner charities: Save the Children, Feeding America, Americares and SBP: Disaster Resilience & Recovery.
The remaining $7 million in donations will be set aside to be distributed in 2018 for longer-term efforts yet to be announced.
In a Twitter video posted Thursday afternoon, Watt explained that he will direct the money to focus on four areas: rebuilding homes, restoring childcare centers, distributing food and providing medical and mental health services.
Watt said he will partner with the four charities, which each specialize in one of those service areas.
“While I understand the total recovery from Hurricane Harvey could require upwards of $200 billion, and this $37 million will not be able to help every single person as I so badly wish it could, I have made it my mission to ensure this money makes as large of an impact as possible,” Watt said in a news release that was sent out at the same time as the Twitter video.
Watt made national headlines in mid-September when his online fundraiser, with an original goal of $200,000, pulled in more than $37 million, a combination of public donations and celebrity contributions from the likes of Ellen Degeneres and Drake.
“I just want to say thank you, guys,” Watt said in the video. “I’m going to keep you updated with photos and videos throughout the course of the next 18 to 24 months to let you know what we’re working on so you can see the projects.”
Reactions to the one-minute Twitter video exploded as soon as
it was posted, with around 3,000 likes within the first hour. Scores of Twitter users expressed their gratitude, some calling for Watt to be named NFL Man of the Year.
Watt’s foundation has been tight-lipped about the plan for the funds until Thursday, releasing few details and declining media requests until preparations were finalized. More information about the timeline for distributing the funds or opportunities for individuals to apply to receive help were not provided by Watt or his foundation.
Watt’s fundraising efforts ended in mid-September and in a news release he encouraged people to “continue to find organizations to donate to.”
Local news reports emerged earlier this month of storm victims being able to apply to receive cash from Watt’s foundation. But Amy Palcic, a spokesperson for the Texans who said she’s worked closely with Watt on this effort, said via email that those were incorrect: “there isn’t a mechanism for people to apply for funds, and no money has been distributed to date.”
Now that the recipient charities have been announced, it is up to those charities to determine if there will be a way for people to apply for the money being distributed, she added.
Several charities confirmed they had spoken directly with Watt or his foundation prior to the announcement to determine where the money would best be directed.
Previously, Watt’s foundation, the Justin J. Watt Foundation, was focused on providing grants to middle schools nationwide for after-school athletic programs.
Watt’s Harvey fundraiser not only steered his foundation in a completely new direction but into completely new financial territory as well. Before Watt raised the $37 million for Harvey, his foundation typically brought in around $1.4 million in annual contributions, according to tax documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
The Texans’ superstar defensive lineman broke his left leg earlier this month in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs, sidelining him for the rest of the season.
In typical Watt fashion, in his Twitter video he made light of the injury while sporting a grin.
Watt apologized for the delay in updating the public on his foundation efforts, saying the broken leg threw “a bit of a wrench into things.”
Marianne Ehrlich, chair of the board of the Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations, said even after the ink dries on the checks from Watt’s foundation, he will still have follow-up work to do.
“The problem comes when money is given but no outcomes are required,” she said. “Just giving money isn’t enough. There needs to be some agreed-upon outcomes that have to happen as a way of measuring that. So if J.J. Watt decides he wants to give to an organization it would be nice for them to do more than say, ‘Thank you.’ ”