Ben Affleck Wins $1 Million for Charity on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' Amidst Family Loss

Ben Affleck and "Jeopardy!" champion Jamie Ding secured a $1 million prize for charity on the U.S. version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," broadcast on ABC. The substantial winnings are earmarked for the Eastern Congo Initiative, a non-profit organization co-founded by Affleck in 2010.

The duo reached the final round, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, with a question about presidential Thanksgiving turkey pardons. They correctly identified "Spaghetti & Meatball" as the name not belonging to a pardoned turkey, using their "Ask-the-Host" lifeline. This win followed their success in a previous round worth $500,000, which involved a question about the Wright brothers' first flight.

Affleck, who has dedicated 15 years to the Eastern Congo Initiative, explained that the organization supports community groups in the eastern Congo, a region severely impacted by war and currently facing an Ebola crisis. The funds raised aim to help alleviate the situation and contain the spread of the virus.

The victory holds a bittersweet significance for Affleck, as it occurred nearly a year after his close friend and collaborator Matt Damon won the same prize for Water.org. It also came just weeks after the passing of his mother, Christopher Anne Boldt, who died at 83 following a battle with pancreatic cancer. Her obituary noted her wish to live long enough to see her grandchildren graduate high school.

Jamie Ding, the "Jeopardy!" champion, brought an impressive record to the show, holding 31 consecutive wins, placing him fifth among the program's all-time top winners.

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And right now, as I'm sure many of you know, there's an Ebola crisis there. So this is designed in large part to try to alleviate that, contain the spread of Ebola.