Jeopardy! Champ James Holzhauer Donates Some of Winnings to Cancer Walk

2019 NHL Awards

James Holzhauer, the Jeopardy! champ who breezed through 32 games setting records and earning a grand total of $2,462,216, donated a portion of his winnings to a Chicago-area cancer walk in honor of host Alex Trebek, it was reported this week.

In March, the longtime Jeopardy! host announced he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer back. In a video posted online, Trebek admitted that his prognosis was "not very encouraging" but vowed to "beat the low survival rates for this disease."

In what would become Holzhauer's final episode on the show, Trebek thanked the champ's daughter for a homemade get-well card she had given him.

"I want to express my thanks to your beautiful little daughter, Natasha, for having made this get-well card for me," Trebek said. "That was very sweet of her."

Ann Zedker, who lives in Holzhauer's former hometown of Naperville, Illinois, was organizing the cancer walk and told CNN that she thought she would invite the Jeopardy! champ to the 2019 Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk scheduled for July 14. Holzhauer was unable to participate in the event, but he did write her a check in the amount of $1,109.14 - a seemingly strange amount until you realize that is his daughter's date of birth.

Holzhauer wrote, "For Alex Trebek and all the other survivors."

The cancer walk is organized by the Lustgardern Foundation, the largest private fundraiser for pancreatic cancer research. More than 50,000 Americans every year are diagnosed with the disease that has consistently low survival rates.

Trebek, who has hosted Jeopardy! since 1984, says he wants to finish the current season.

Photo: Getty Images


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