HOUSTON – The phone rang inside Grape Juice, a Kerrville restaurant dedicated to helping first responders and others in a community ravaged by deadly, destructive flooding.
When the employee answered and was initially unfamiliar with the caller requesting to donate to their growing GoFundMe campaign, the owner of the restaurant was wowed to learn the identify of their famous benefactor.
It was retired Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt on the line asking how to help out. Watt and his wife, Kealia Ohai-Watt, made a $100,000 donation to pitch in during this time of need in Kerrville and the Texas Hill Country.
“Our employee just said, ‘There’s a man named J.J. Watt on the phone and he wants to make a donation,’” Grape Juice owner Daric Easton told KPRC 2 in a telephone interview. “I was on a supply run when he called. My wife sent me a screenshot. I get his number and I send him the GoFundMe page.
Watt indicated to Easton that he became aware of their GoFundMe campaign online and felt compelled to contribute.
“My wife was like, ‘Yo, it’s J.J.’ I sent him a text and it happened fast. That’s that boy, bro. the hometown hero. He’s out here, bro. That was wild, man.”
Easton, a proud Houston area native now working and living in Kerrville with his family, could hardly believe what had just transpired.
“That was so kind of him and true to form with how J.J. is,” Easton said. “It’s hard to process that I now have J.J. Watt’s number. I’ll probably delete it. It’s too tempting to call him. In all seriousness, we are so appreciative. I had an employee who lost everything.
“It will go toward paying the staff, to purchasing groceries. It will be put to such good use. It was mind-blowingly considerate and compassionate for him and his wife to do that.”
Watt recently donated $10,000 to aid former teammate Bryan Braman, who is battling a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
It was Watt who started a GoFundMe page during Hurricane Harvey that raised millions of dollars to benefit those hit hard by a tragic weather event that devastated the greater Houston area.
The campaign, launched with an initial goal of raising $200,000, went viral and raised over $41.6 million for the largest crowdsourced fundraiser in history. The resources went toward rebuilding homes, providing meals and offering health services in heavily impacted communities.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
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