Lustgarten Foundation Receives Outpouring of Support from Jeopardy! Champs

Tournament of Champions Competitors Host Play-Along Fundraiser

It was the answer heard ‘round the world. On Monday’s episode of Jeopardy!, College Champ Dhruv Guar was stumped—he didn’t know the correct answer but he did know the right thing to do.

His answer, “We love you, Alex.” caused long-time host Alex Trebek, who is battling Stage IV pancreatic cancer, to choke up. The feelings—both affection for Trebek and sorrow at his diagnosis—were shared by millions and the moment quickly went viral. Gaur even appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Thursday, where he was presented with a $25,000 donation from Shutterfly.

Guar and his fellow Tournament of Champion competitors had already decided to recognize Trebek’s cancer fight and the loss of Tournament of Champions qualifier and Teachers Tournament winner Larry Martin, who died in January 2019 of pancreatic cancer. The players and Trebek have been wearing purple ribbons throughout the two-week event to memorialize Martin. When the #WeLoveYouAlex clip went viral, the players added a “play-along” fundraising effort benefiting the Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Research. Players challenged viewers to honor Trebek and Martin by donating $1 for every clue they answered correctly. As the fundraiser gained steam on Thursday, Nov. 14, players went to social media to encourage viewers to, as contestant Steven Grade (@ask_Steven) tweeted: “donate when you get them right, donate when you get them wrong, donate extra for Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy, or donate a percentage of your Coryat*. But whatever you do, watch, play and donate.” *average of your correct and incorrect responses developed for viewers

In response to the increased attention, the Lustgarten Foundation is releasing the following media assets. President & CEO Kerri Kaplan also is available for interviews.

• WHO: Elizabeth Jaffee, M.D., Chief Medical Advisor, Lustgarten Foundation; Professor of Oncology; Associate Director, Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy; Deputy Director, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center Johns Hopkins University
• WHAT: Soundbites from Dr. Jaffee; Broll of Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Research Lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
• WHEN: Friday, Nov. 15-Monday, Nov. 18
• WHERE: Broadcast quality video can be downloaded from Hightail.com
  • Password: sunset
  • Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee
    • Bite 1: “…it hits home…” (:15)
    • Bite 2: “…loss of support…” (:30)
  • Lab Broll (3:00)