PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - Several organizations teamed up to donate a new air conditioning unit to a South Florida military veteran who volunteers his time to help others.
Rudolph Watt lost everything when his Miami Gardens home for over 25 years caught fire in December 2019.
“I’m actually standing against the new air conditioner that was given to me,” Watt said. “I basically became homeless overnight.”
Watt was not home at the time, but Jackalope, his pet dog, was inside. Luckily, the canine was able to get out of the home.
“It’s funny because as he was growing up, I was teaching him how to open the door and everything,” Watt said, “but when the fire started, he actually opened the door and ran out of the house, and I found him two blocks away.”
The house was deemed a total loss, and Watt was forced to start all over again.
Tabitha Aragon from Miami’s U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs stepped in to help Watt out.
“I heard about the fire and things like that, and then, I helped work with other veterans to get items donated for him like clothes and shoes and things he was going to need since he had lost everything,” she said.
Then, the Wounded Warrior Project stepped in to help, and Watt purchased a home in Pembroke Pines.
“He recently got this new place, and I asked him about the AC unit, and he told me it wasn’t doing as well as it could be,” Wounded Warrior Project spokesperson Edwin Vasco said.
After learning about the fire, the Miami Dolphins, along with Air Pros, in conjunction with the Wounded Warrior Project, decided to help out.
“Rudy was one of the people that we heard about,” Miami Dolphins Community Relations spokesperson Rashauna Hamilton said. “When we heard about the things he was doing in the community, the service he had for our country, it obviously was a no-brainer.”
Together, the organizations donated and installed a new AC system for Watt.
“One of the most deserving veterans I have ever met in my life, Mr. Watt, First Sergeant U.S. Army, we gave him a brand new, five-ton system today,” Air Pros President Anthony Perera said.
The organizations touted Watt’s selflessness. After serving 22 years in the military, he volunteers with several non-profits and teaches disabled veterans and those who have lost limbs how to dive.
For Watt, the gesture from the organizations was emotional, and he took a minute to gather his thoughts.
“Just with everything that has happened at the start of the year — I’m truly blessed to have all these good people around,” he said.
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