Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has a history with Salvation Army. He jumped into a Salvation Army kettle to celebrate a touchdown last season, leading to a spike in donations and an estimated $200,000 value in TV ad exposure.
To aid relief for Hurricane Harvey victims, Elliott revealed in an Instagram post that he donated $21,000 to Salvation Army and challenged “my friends and all of Cowboys nation” to donate as well. He specifically named teammates Dak Prescott, Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams to make “a significant contribution.”
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Already, a number of athletes have offered assistance toward hurricane relief in various forms. Texans star J.J. Watt donated $100,00 from his own wallet and started a crowdfunding campaign, which had raised more than $800,000 as of Monday evening.
Watt wants to incorporate a fundraising element into this weekend’s preseason game between the Texans and the Cowboys, a game that was moved from Houston to Dallas because of the storm.
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter offered to donate $10,000 for every home run he hits through the end of the season. Carpenter may not be the biggest home run hitter — he’s got 17 on the season and only three since the All-Star Break — and people on social media have already teased him for that. But it’s still a very admirable gesture that should lead to an impactful sum of money over the final few weeks of the season.
NBA forward Gerald Green, a Houston native, drove around Houston offering help and posted a video to Instagram asking to connect with boat-owners so they could rescue residents who were stranded in their homes due to flooding.
If you’d like to help the relief effort, here are some resources.