Athletes Jump To Assist Victims Of Hurricane Harvey

A Roundup of Charity Efforts by Professional Athletes for Hurricane Harvey Relief in Houston

The devastation caused to the city of Houston by Hurricane Harvey is heartbreaking and almost unspeakable. The necessary healing will take years, but here’s a sampling of the generous efforts made by professional athletes to start providing relief.

Individual Contributions

Professional athletes from all over the sports universe opened their hearts and wallets wide to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Here’s a list of just a few of these generous acts.

• Texans star J.J. Watt personally donated $100,000 and started a relief fund that generated $20 million at last count, while teammate Brian Cushing gave $50,000 of his own.
• New Houston Rockets’ teammates James Harden and Chris Paul helped out with relief efforts as well, donating $1 million and $50,000 respectively.
• Representing the golf world, K.J. Choi donated $100,000.
• Spearheaded by John Wall, Bradley Beal, the Washington Wizards collectively donated $250,000
• Some retired NBAers made donations as well, with Dikembe Mutombo giving $50,000 and Gilbert Arenas contributing 20,000 bottles of water to hurricane victims.
• Houston natives and fellow Sacramento Kings rookies De’Aaron Fox and Justin Jackson are organizing a charity game back in their hometown, with the proceeds going toward disaster relief.

Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry donated $18,000 via a free throw shooting challenge from Houston-based active wear company, Active Faith. Lanny Smith the owner donated $1,000 per made free throw. Steph also added an additional $100,000

Out of 25 shots, Curry made 18. That’s $18,000 for Hurricane Harvey relief from Smith. Curry plans to match that amount and give another $100,000 on top of it.

Boston Celtics’ Gerald Green took his efforts right in the middle of things.  The Houston native went out searching for people who were in need of assistance. He broadcasted his efforts on Instagram live.

He ended up connecting with two guys who had a boat.

NBA analyst Stephen Jackson is from Port Arthur, Texas. Understanding that the larger city of Houston would receive the lion’s share of donations, Jackson started his own efforts for his hometown.

This is but a sampling of the kindness and compassion shown by professional athletes all over the country. Nothing could possibly undo the damage done by Hurricane Harvey, but generosity of this sort truly is an affirmation.

Organizational Contributions

This affirmation was replicated by the higher ups as well, as the owners of several professional sports teams stepped up and did their part as well. Here is a sampling of their incredible altruism.

• Houston Rockets owner Les Alexander donated an incredible $10 million to relief efforts.
• Texans’ owner Bob McNair donated $1 million to help restore his team’s ravaged city, the same amount Heat owner Mickey Arison contributed.
• Titans owner Amy Adams Struck also donated $1 million dollars, as did Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
• Patriots owner Robert Kraft pledged to match up to $1 million of the Red Cross’s total donation.
• A telethon run by the Dallas Cowboys raised over $2 million to go with the $1 million donated by owner Jerry Jones.
• The Houston Astros donated a total of $4 million dollars to disaster relief efforts.
• Lastly, the NFL itself stepped forward as well, matching Bob McNair’s $1 million donation with one of their own.

These acts of kindness should inspire all of us to do whatever we can for people in need. With Hurricane Irma now raging in south Florida, we’ll need that spirit more than ever. We wish everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma and the city of Houston itself a speedy recovery.