James Holzhauer Honors 'Jeopardy!' Host Alex Trebek by Donating to a Pancreatic Cancer Charity Walk

James Holzhauer is a recent Jeopardy! game show contestant who won over two million dollars. To honor the television show’s host, the contestant donated money to a cause that is near and dear to the presenter.

James Holzhauer is a Jeopardy! contestant who won 32 games and a whopping $2,462,216! He had fans on the edges of their seats when he came close to beating Ken Jennings’ high score of $2,520,700 which he set in 2004.

HOLZHAUER'S TIES TO NAPERVILLE

Holzhauer is a former resident of Naperville District 203 schools and he’s given back to his hometown. Ann Zediker, a Naperville resident received a donation from Holzhauer for a special cause she’s hosting.

Zediker wants to raise money to find a cure for pancreatic cancer. It also happens to be the same type of cancer that Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek has.

WHO THE CONTESTANT DONATED FOR

Holzhauer explained who he was honoring with the donation writing it was: “For Alex Trebek and all the other survivors.” The former contestant would, however, not be able to attend the event.

He is giving $1,109.14 for the worthy cause according to the donation website. Zediker revealed that she actually started following Holzhauer on social media as his winning streak on the game show became the talk of the town.

HOW HE ENDED UP DONATING

She explained: “There was an excitement, and I started following him on social media.” Holzhauer’s connection to both Trebek and Zediker’s hometown lead her to go out on a limb and try and get him to participate in her event.

She emailed him about taking part in the 2019 Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk (which was run since 2011) on July 14. Zediker said: “My gut told me it was the right thing to do. It couldn’t hurt.”

She was rewarded with the donation instead! The amount the contestant donated is his daughter, Natasha’s birth date.

WHY ZEDIKER STARTED THE CANCER WALK

Zediker shared that she’d known little about the disease until after her father was diagnosed and lost his life in 2010. She figured she needed to do something and that’s when she started the cause to get donations for research with the help of the Lustgarten Foundation.

In March, Trebek revealed that he was battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer and received a handmade card from Holzhauer's daughter whom he thanked. The television host shared in May that he was responding well to treatment and is in “near remission.”

Zediker is set on raising $100,000 and building more awareness for the cause.

HOW HOLZHAUER KEPT JEOPARDY!'S RATINGS ON TOP

Holzhauer’s last full week on Jeopardy! helped the game show retain the number 1 weekly spot in syndication. It earned a 7.9 household rating from May 27-31.

The game show’s viewership was also quite high averaging 12.6 million. The contestant’s winning streak eventually came to an end on June 3 when he lost against Emma Boettcher.