Simpson directed people to either give money to the funeral home directly or to herself in a Twitter post on July 21.
281-449-6511, ask for payment center, ask to pay towards Jerry Roderick Sr.
— Jennifer Simpson (@JSimpson2014) July 21, 2022
Within two days of trying to sell her JJ Watt jersey and shoes, people had donated $5,200 toward Simpson’s grandfather’s funeral.
Simpson explained that the money would be going toward both the funeral services and the cemetery services.
Update: after all donations were paid today, we are at $5,200 to get my grandpa a funeral! We were under 2 contracts- 1 for funeral services and then 1 for cemetery services (plot, opening/closing, etc.) https://t.co/S1x86KXelJ
— Jennifer Simpson (@JSimpson2014) July 22, 2022
Within five days of her original post, Simpson reported that they had raised nearly all the money they needed to cover all her grandpa’s funeral and burial costs.
And on July 27th, just a week after JJ Watt helped a woman pay himself, as well as getting the word out to others, Simpson celebrated that they had all they needed.
Simpson wrote, “My grandpas funeral is paid in full!! I couldn’t have done it without the help of JJ Watt and all of you wonderful people.”
Simpson then asked that the donations stop.
After JJ Watt helped a woman pay for her grandpa’s funeral, she called him a “walking angel.”
For inquiring minds: @JJWatt is a walking angel on this earth. I knew there was a reason I loved him when he played for the #Texans. There is so much generosity in this world, it’s unreal.
My grandpa still has not had his funeral. We’re playing the waiting game right now, but 🤞🏻— Jennifer Simpson (@JSimpson2014) August 7, 2022
On August 20, Simpson posted to Twitter that her family were finally able to lay her grandfather to rest.
Looking for more inspirational stories of people helping others? Check out our story on a high school principal who worked a second job to help his students.