Jeopardy! pro James Holzhauer is $2,462,216 richer, minus what he owes Uncle Sam. And minus a little more than $1,000. The Naperville, Illinois, native was asked to participate in this year's Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk, a fundraising event started by Ann Zediker, whose father died from the disease in 2010 just five months after learning he had it. The connection between Holzhauer and Zediker didn't just come down to local roots: Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek is fighting the same cancer.
She says Holzhauer let her know he couldn't make the July event but sent a donation to her foundation, which has thus far raised more than half-a-million dollars, reports WLS-TV. The Naperville Sun cites the donation website in reporting Holzhauer gave $1,109.14, pairing it with the message "For Alex Trebek and all the other survivors." Why $1,109.14? Nov. 9, 2014, is his daughter's birthday, a fact that Yahoo News reports he brought up on the show after winning $110,914 in the April 9 episode. (Trebek recently said he had mind-boggling news about his cancer.)