Jennifer Garner Donates Books To Flood-Devastated School
By Movieguide® Contributor
Jennifer Garner is returning to Kentucky to lend a hand a year after floods devastated the area.
“It just takes your breath away,” Garner said of the destruction.
In a clip shown on the TODAY show, the actress visited the remains of Robinson Elementary School. Everything was destroyed, including its library.
“My little elementary school library totally shaped my life,” Garner shared.
During her visit, she surprised local students and teachers with a gift of 500 books, teacher resources and a donation of 5,000 books once the future libraries are built.
“Children’s libraries are some of the most important places in our country, but you know what, a push cart is better than nothing,” Garner explained. “A push cart with an amazing librarian like we met today, who’s prioritizing reading, who’s showing the kids that it matters enough that she will push around a cart to make sure they have some books.”
She continued, “There’s a lot of trauma just in growing up below the poverty line, and if you can name it, then you can heal, you can be resilient and move on. And it’s amazing — it’s amazing to watch in action. They’re on their way back.”
“My takeaway is really that resilience — resilience comes from the doing. It comes from putting one foot in front of the other, it comes from figuring things out and acting on it. But it also can’t happen in a vacuum. Sometimes you need community to wrap themselves around you, and boy, this community is strong,” Garner concluded.
The actress visited the area last year, shortly after the floods took place, as part of her work with Save the Children.
“We are working to rebuild education and feeding programs, and helping teachers start their classrooms all over again,” Garner said. “We’re getting cash in the hands of families, so they can decide what they need in order to start over.”
She has worked with Save the Children since 2014, first as an ambassador and now as a board member.
“I treat Save the Children like a job — and it’s a job I take as seriously as any job,” Garner said.
Movieguide® previously reported on Garner:
13 GOING ON 30 actress Jennifer Garner shared an important piece of advice for mothers.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, Garner stated, “Working moms…get all freaked out because we’re told constantly, ‘You have 18 summers, you have this much time…Time is fleeting.’ It makes you panic.”
“If you come from a place of expansiveness instead of feeling just like, ‘I can’t be a mom because I’m also working and I’m supposed to be guilty all the time,’ you better just lean into wherever you are, any day, right now, just be there when your kids show up and we’ll have a great time,” she added.
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