Jennifer Garner lives in fire ravaged Pacific Palisades, but she still had time to give back to people who have lost everything.
The Alias star, 52, volunteered with Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen in the parking lot of a closed Jack in the Box restaurant in Altadena on Saturday, which has suffered tragic losses in the Eaton Fire.
The food truck Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, owned by Greg Dolan, provided the food at the event.
ennifer dug in and helped where she was needed, whether that was serving the residents of Altadena, washing dishes or preparing food.
And she did it all with a smile on her face, in a blue hoodie with a blue ball cap on her head.
Garner began volunteering on Friday to help feed firefighters and victims amid the LA fires after ex Ben Affleck rushed to her home following the catastrophe.
Jennifer Garner lives in fire ravaged Pacific Palisades, and she still had time to give back to people who have lost everything
The Alias star, 52, volunteered with Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen in the parking lot of closed Jack in the Box restaurant in Altadena, which has suffered tragic losses in the Eaton Fire
WCK is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization that provides food relief.
She joined chef Jose Andres for an interview with MSNBC and emotionally revealed that she had ‘lost a friend’ during the catastrophic event – which has taken 11 lives.
At one point while talking to journalist Katy Tur, Garner shared, ‘I did lose a friend. And for our church, it’s really tender. So, I don’t feel like I should talk about her yet.’
‘But yeah, I did lose a friend who did not get out on time,’ she continued as her voice cracked over the tragic loss.
Jennifer also reflected on seeing the destruction of thousands of homes in the Palisades community and expressed, ‘I just…my heart bleeds for all my friends.’
‘I mean, I can think of a hundred families and there are 5,000 homes lost. Without even thinking, I can write out a list of a hundred friends that lost their homes.’
Garner then admitted, ‘I feel almost guilty walking through my house just, you know, what can I do? How can I help? What can I offer? What do I have to offer with these hands and these walls and the safety that I have?’
The food truck Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, owned by Greg Dolan, provided the food at the event
Jennifer dug in and helped where she was needed, whether that was serving the residents of Altadena, washing dishes or preparing food
And she did it all with a smile on her face, in a blue hoodie with a blue ball cap on her head
The Last Thing He Told Me actress chatted with neighborhood residents
The star – who is also an ambassador for the nonprofit Save The Children – said the organization ‘will be in shelters helping parents and kids and keeping them safe and social and emotional…we’ll be here in a big way very, very soon.’
Elsewhere in her conversation with Tur, the actress stated, ‘I’ve lived in and around the Palisades for 25 years, so I just think all of us, we want to get our hands into working, somehow, to be helpful.’
‘And because of my work with Save The Children, we have a relationship with the chef,’ she said, referencing to Jose Andres – who is the founder of World Central Kitchen.
‘And I was able to just say, “Can I be with you for the day? What can I do to help? Put me to work.”‘
The Methodist Church that Jennifer would attend burned down in the fires, and she told Katy while becoming emotional, ‘It’s my family’s church.’
After a brief pause, Garner continued, ‘And it’s where my kids went to Sunday school. We lit the Advent candle together there a couple of weeks ago. We watched the little kids perform. It’s a preschool. It’s a central part of our community.’
‘It’s a gathering point for the entire community. And full of really quirky, cool, mostly blue collar people of the community. And just, like, I loved belonging there because wherever I went, I would run into somebody from our community.’
She later added, ‘The people are strong and the sense of the community is strong. We will look after each other, and that is still here. That is still stronger than ever.’
Garner began volunteering on Friday to help feed firefighters and victims amid the LA fires after ex Ben Affleck rushed to her home following the catastrophe
WCK is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization that provides food relief
At one point while talking to journalist Katy Tur, Garner shared, ‘I did lose a friend. And for our church, it’s really tender. So, I don’t feel like I should talk about her yet’
Blustery winds continue to whip across Los Angeles and could still ignite new fires, though they appear to have mellowed somewhat from their highs on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Since the fire broke out in Pacific Palisades, new fires have started further east in Altadena, which forced major evacuations in nearby Pasadena on Tuesday night.
More fires broke out in the Hollywood hills on Wednesday, threatening heavily populated parts of Hollywood, however they were fully contained by Thursday.
As of Saturday, the Palisades fire is making a northeast march into the San Fernando Valley and the return of high winds after two relatively calm days could present a real challenge for over taxed firefighters.
