Comedian and former late-night television host Jay Leno traveled to Richmond, Ky., over the weekend to help St. Mark Catholic Church fundraise for the family of Daniel Ellis, a police officer who was tragically killed last November while investigating the robbery of a kindergarten teacher.
According to the parish’s website, St. Mark has hosted performances by other notable figures including Regis Philbin, Martin Short, Natalie Cole, Dolly Parton, Donny Osmond, and Harry Connick, Jr over the past twelve years. To end the church's "celebrity series," Leno appeared to perform a comedy routine for attendees at the church event they called "Evening Among Friends: Last Call" to raise money for the church and its school, as well as the Officer Daniel Ellis Memorial Foundation.
"You know everybody thinks the world is such a terrible place, but there are more good people than there are bad people and we hear about the bad people. You know, it's like this police officer that was killed in the line of duty. He was a good man," said Leno.
But the biggest surprise came to Ellis’ wife, Katie, when Leno decided to donate $10,000 to her three-year-old son’s college fund.
"I'd like to see him go to college," said Leno. "Police officers don't make enough money anyway and when you lose the bread winner of the family, it's the saddest thing in the world.”
"It is very surreal," Katie said. "We're just regular people that have unfortunately been put in this position and we lost Daniel, and we're very honored that someone like Jay Leno would care just a little. It means the world.”
The St. Mark congregation also came together to give the Ellis family an all-expense-paid trip to Disney World.