Alex Trebek Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving, in a 'Perfect Way'

Late 'Jeopardy!' host's family, show staff donate his wardrobe so underserved men can go to interviews
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 11, 2021 10:40 AM CST
Alex Trebek Is the Gift That Keeps on Giving, in a 'Perfect Way'
This image shows Alex Trebek, host of the game show "Jeopardy!"   (Jeopardy! via AP)

Three hundred neckties, 58 dress shirts, 25 polo shirts, 15 belts, 14 suits, 14 sweaters, nine pairs of dress shoes, nine sports coats, three pairs of dress slacks, and two parkas sounds like a clothier's "12 Days of Christmas" list. Thanks to Alex Trebek's family and Jeopardy! staff, who donated these items to the Doe Fund, a nonprofit program that helps the underserved population become self-sufficient, it might just feel like that to the individuals who will now be wearing them. CBS News reports on the offering to the group's "Ready, Willing, and Able" initiative, which offers career training, education, social services, and sobriety support to men who've experienced homelessness, addiction, and incarceration. The donated wardrobe, which the late Trebek wore on the show, will be provided to men who are looking to go on job interviews, per a release.

The donation came after a recommendation from Trebek's son, Matthew, who's been a Doe Fund advocate. The Jeopardy! Twitter account posted some pictures of Matthew and show costume supervisor Steve Zimbelman going through Trebek's clothes racks to make their picks. The Doe Fund, for its part, is very appreciative. "We are so grateful for Jeopardy! and the Trebek family's commitment to lifting up the most vulnerable among us," President Harriet McDonald says in the release. Mike Richards, the game show's executive producer, says this is what Trebek, who died at 80 in November of cancer, would've wanted. "During his last day on set, Alex extolled the virtues of everyone opening up their hands and their hearts to those who are suffering," Richards notes. "Donating his wardrobe to those who are working to rebuild their lives is the perfect way to begin to honor that last request." (More Alex Trebek stories.)

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