'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek and wife Jean donate $500K to local homeless shelter

By Megan Stone & Carson Blackwelder

"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek and his wife Jean are helping those most in need.

On Wednesday the couple donated $500,000 to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, a local homeless outreach organization.

The Trebeks said they hope to inspire others to help their local homeless shelters.

"Alex and Jean Trebek contributed $500,000 to the charity because they believe in helping locally as well as globally," the pair said in a statement. "They have lived in the Valley for over 30 years, and want to help support their community."

"They also believe that homeless people are just ordinary people who have had bad circumstances happen to them, and deserve a helping hand, not judgment," the statement concluded.

"Good Morning America" confirmed the two directed the funds toward Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, which operates out of Southern California.

The organization's founder, Ken Craft, confirmed to "GMA" that the money will go toward a new homeless shelter in San Fernando Valley, which could open in 2021.

Craft said the new shelter will be dubbed Hope Central and will operate with the express purpose of housing homeless seniors.

This isn't the first time the Trebeks personally reached out to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission. Previously, the two donated $100,000 to help the organization build a separate construction in North Hollywood -- in which the building's largest room was named after them as the Alex and Jean Trebek Multi-Purpose Room.