HOUSTON -- When Texans star JJ Watt set up an online fundraiser to help Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey he hoped to raise $250,000.
By Tuesday morning it hit $20,000,000.
About an hour before the fund hit $15 million, Arnold Schwarzenegger tweeted Watt, telling him to raise his goal even higher with a promise to add a sizeable chunk to it.
I love what you're doing for Houston @JJWatt, so I'm sending some of my money. It's time to raise the goal again! https://t.co/8rLyMGJD1b pic.twitter.com/Si28uky3MN
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) September 1, 2017
Watt appeared remotely on the Ellen DeGeneres Show the day before. Ellen announced that Walmart would be contributing $1 million to Watt's effort, and Miley Cyrus donated $500,000 of her own money.
"Can't speak enough to the goodness in humanity, to everybody helping out," Watt said Wednesday night.
Thank you, @TheEllenShow!#HoustonStrong pic.twitter.com/7QGh5jSOIw
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) August 31, 2017
Watt donated $100,000 himself when the YouCaring fundraiser first went online.
Massive thank you to @TheEllenShow for the $1 Million donation.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 31, 2017
We're now over $8.5 Million.
Let's keep going!https://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/LRhVLzxFZj
"That's our city. It's very tough to watch our city get hit by such a bad storm and not be there to help with the recovery," Watt said. "I know these recovery efforts are going to be massive."
Recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey will be massive.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 27, 2017
We must come together to help rebuild our communities.https://t.co/SR6DmnNbyM pic.twitter.com/iiMsG2i4dl
He said he wanted to start a fundraiser to help people get back on their feet. "Houston, we're in this together," Watt said in a description of his donation on the fundraising page.
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The initial goal was smashed within hours, so Watt raised the goal to $500,000 and has kept raising the bar since.