Chip Gaines Promises to Match Donations Made in Terminally Ill Friend’s Name

Chip Gaines is shining a light on an important cause and helping a friend.

The Fixer Upper star is currently raising money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital with his #ChipInChallenge, which asks fans to donate to the organization.

On Tuesday, Gaines shared that he would be matching all donations made for the challenge between the time of his post and midnight that night on behalf of his friend Gabriele “Gabe” Grunewald, who is battling salivary gland and thyroid cancer. Gaines’ donation will go to the Brave Like Gabe foundation, and wrote he would also match that amount for St. Jude’s.

“More than 10 years ago, my friend [Grunewald] was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer,” Gaines shared alongside a slideshow of photos of himself and Grunewald. I understand that Gabe is not a patient at [St. Jude], but right now, she is fighting for her life. Cancer is ugly and it is mean and it doesn’t fight fair. This has gotten extremely personal.”

“That is 3x the power of your generosity in the fight against cancer.. and all YOU need to do is donate whatever you can to the #ChipInChallenge between now and midnight CT,” he continued. “I’ll take care of the rest. Together, we’re going to fight for those who are fighting for just one more day. This is for those precious kids at St. Jude.. we are pulling for you! And to my beautiful friend Gabe…we love you and we are here for you every step of the way.”

Over the weekend, Grunewald’s husband, Justin, shared on Instagram that his wife had been admitted to the ICU after experiencing septic shock before being moved home for hospice care by Sunday.

After hearing this news, Gaines tweeted, “To @gg_runs. We love you. You changed us forever, and til we meet again we promise to be #BraveLikeGabe.”

Photo Credit: Instagram / @gigrunewald