Numerous auction items sold throughout the night, from festival tickets to felt cowboys hats and private backyard concerts.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Around 7 p.m. Monday, Fort Worth country music singer Josh Weathers stepped to the mic, with his band by his side, and an empty audience in front of them. Three hours later, they had raised over $330,000 for the Texas flood relief.
“I just feel like we gotta do something – right now,” Weathers told his Facebook followers the day before.
That something was a Facebook Live concert that lasted three-plus hours, as Weathers and his bandmates played nonstop and fielded donations and auction bids.
“I thought it was gonna be good,” Weathers said in a follow-up video on Facebook the next morning. “I had what I felt like was a lofty goal of $150 grand and that got blown out of the water really quick.”
In fact, the fundraiser had surpassed that mark within two hours, as donations and auction bids poured in. How generous were the live stream viewers? A private concert featuring Weathers, Seth James and Red Shahan sold for $36,000. Another went for $72,000. Numerous other auction items sold throughout the night, from concert tickets to felt cowboys hats. All of which were donated by Weathers’ friends in the music industry and businesses across Texas.
“It’s just wild to say,” Weathers told his Facebook followers on Tuesday morning. “We didn’t have expectations that high. That was the people. That was the Lord. That was God and that was the people. The people really stepped up and went above and beyond. It just sort of blew up.”
Weathers’ auction fundraiser – which came to a close Tuesday night – has been one of many across Texas in the wake of the deadly flooding. If you’re still looking to help the flood recovery and relief efforts, you can also donate to WFAA’s Texas Flood Relief Fund here.