The ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ star is continuing her fight against childhood hunger in the U.S.
Viola Davis continues her fight against hunger.
The How to Get Away With Murder star is partnering with Hunger Is to award participating hunger relief organizations and programs with $1,000 grants each day for 30 days with the $30K in 30 Days Project.
Last month, Davis kicked things off by awarding a $1,000 grant to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, in her home state. “Growing up,” Davis said, “I knew all too well what hunger felt like.”
“I am thrilled to award this organization with an additional $1,000 grant from Hunger Is to continue this important work in a place that is very close to my heart.”
Over the course of the next month, an additional $30,000 will be handed out to similar organizations.
This isn’t the first time Davis has opened up about her struggles, or led the fight to end childhood hunger in the United States. In January, the actress talked to ET about her own struggles to eat properly while growing up in abject poverty in Rhode Island.
“Whenever I did have a good meal, I realized the impact of what that meal did for me. It made me come to life. It made me feel alive. It made me feel like a need was being fulfilled,” she said. “Hunger isn't one of those needs that you can kind of forget about and put into the recesses of your mind. Everything was about fulfilling that need and when it was filled, it just felt like I could get back to my life.”
The new $30K in 30 Days Project coincides with the Hunger Is “Hungry for More” campaign, previously announced by ET, which is currently taking place in more than 2,300 Albertsons Companies grocery stores across the country in an effort to encourage customers to support local hunger relief programs.
Over the last three years, Hunger Is has raised more than $18 million and awarded grants to over 270 local hunger programs in 33 states plus the District of Columbia. More than 6.4 million breakfasts have been served to families in need.
And for those in need or who look up to Davis for advice, she previously told ET to “dream big.”
“Dreaming is like going to the gym for me. It's what I did every day,” she said. “Every day I tackled something. Every day, even when I had obstacles in front of me, even if it was something I could do that made me just a step closer to my dreams, I did it. It's like exercising a muscle.”
To donate or to learn more about Hunger Is, visit www.HungerIs.org.