Regis Philbin donates game show winnings to Catholic alma mater

Published: 2007-11-14

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Television personality Regis Philbin recently demonstrated that the education he received at a Catholic high school in the Bronx served him well. He won $175,000 on the Fox TV program "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" and announced on the air that he would donate his winnings to Cardinal Hayes High School. The episode, which aired Nov. 1, featured celebrities answering questions targeted at the fifth-grade level to win up to $1 million for charity. This is not the first time Philbin has donated game-show earnings to his former high school. Last year, he gave the school his $50,000 prize from winning "Celebrity Jeopardy" on another special episode for celebrities to win cash for their favorite charities. Philbin, a member of the class of '49 at Cardinal Hayes, went on to graduate from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and has been generous to both schools. In 2000, he donated $500,000 to Cardinal Hayes to renovate the auditorium. He also led the 1995 and 1999 capital campaigns that funded a $7 million endowment and the updating of school facilities. He is honorary chairman of the current capital campaign, "Our Future -- Your Hands."

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