Jennifer Garner has lived in and close to the Pacific Palisades for 25 years. She has a beautiful house there that she’s super proud of and is a big part of the community. Like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Jen also volunteered at the World Food Kitchen’s relief center in the Palisades on Friday. Katy Tur, who also calls the area her “hometown,” pulled Jen and Chef José Andrés aside for a pretty emotional interview. While Jen’s home was spared, she has friends who were not so lucky. She can name at least “100 friends who lost their homes.” Sadly, another friend, whom she knew from church, didn’t make it out in time.
Jennifer Garner says she lost a friend as destruction tore through her Los Angeles neighborhood amid the Palisades and Eaton fires.
On Friday, Jan. 10, the actress, 52, spoke candidly on MSNBC alongside World Central Kitchen’s Chef José Andrés and anchor Katy Tur about the death of one of her friends from her church.
“I did lose a friend, and for our church, it’s really tender so I don’t feel like we should talk about it yet,” Garner said, her voice cracking. “I did lose a friend. She didn’t get out in time.”
Garner was working alongside Andrés as a volunteer at one of his several pop-up locations around Los Angeles County to feed evacuees who fled the fires.
“My heart bleeds for my friends,” Garner continued. “I mean, I can think of 100 families, and there are 5,000 homes lost. I can — without even [thinking] — I could just write out a list of 100 friends who lost their homes.”
“I feel almost guilty walking through my house,” she continued. “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 mom-of-three was photographed serving food to firefighters battling the blaze through World Central Kitchen.
Elsewhere in the interview, Garner praised Andrés, 55, and his mission to help serve the community through World Central Kitchen amid the tragic fires.
“It is an incredible thing to watch,” Garner told Tur, 41. “World Central Kitchen and Chef José just come in and… ‘We’ve got you. We’ve got this handled. Don’t worry.’ ”
“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,” she added. “And because of my work with Save The Children, we have a relationship with the chef, 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.’ “
This is so devastating. All of the stories coming out of Los Angeles right now are just terrible. Like I said above, Jen’s interview with Katy is really emotional. At points, she struggles to get through it without crying, especially as she describes what a tight knit community her neighborhood was by comparing it to Sesame Street. My heart breaks for everyone in each of the areas and communities that have been destroyed.
Jen was also there with the charity Save the Children, of which she serves on the Board of Directors. They’re going to be visiting shelters and other locations to help parents and children with social/emotional support, which is going to be so, so important in the challenging days ahead. There are a lot of resources out there of places to donate to in order to help the victims. I think both ABC and CBS have good lists with a variety of different organizations. GoFundMe also has a section of verified fundraisers to help prevent scams.
photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
People are showing their true colours in this crisis. Who cares and who do not. It doesn’t surprise me that Jen cares like Megan or Jamie or Sharon
The kk clan does not
Also Jose Andres is an angel
HE IS INDEED!
oh HEY .. JUSTINE BATEMAN.. YES YOU! Take a page from these people and use your hands for good, and not evil… I presume you don’ t think they are disaster tourists as well.
For me, I could care less about celebrities for the most part. I expect a lot of wealthy to be selfish. It’s the politicians that are blaming California or claiming that federal help should be held hostage that beyond disgust me. Meanwhile, the rest of us are supposed to bend over backwards to support everyone in the states who live in hurricane and tornado areas. If they want a divided nation, they’ll get one, sure enough.
Katy Tur lost her home. I saw a clip of her returning to the neighborhood. I don’t know how she’s keeping it together while reporting on all this.
The region must be in chaos. There are like 100k people on the move right now and parents trying to figure out where their kids can go to schools…
I’m in Northern CA (where the fires have been in recent years, (but blessedly not this past season). The schools shut down during the fires (whether due to the fires, the terrible air quality or the chaos of the community) and our school year now has flex days in case of fires (or other natural disasters) that can be planning days if nothing happens in a given year or make up days if something did occur
But somehow it’s only Princess Meghan who gets criticized for helping.. I was escorted by first responders through a wildfire once never been more terrified in my life my heart just breaks for everyone affected .. the world kitchen just got another donation from me, what an amazing thing they do for people when disasters happen.
It’s bizarre, isn’t it? H & M would likely have wanted to help regardless but these critics must forget that L.A. is her hometown.
Of course she’s gonna get involved!
We gotta get louder about supporting Meghan. Period.
It’s so sad to watch this devastating news, the huge area that was lost, the lives, the properties, the land, including the parks and the communities.
Not only that, it’s also the infrastructure that needs rebuilding — shops, schools, doctors’ offices and so on.
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“Elsewhere in the interview, Garner praised Andrés, 55, and his mission to help serve the community through World Central Kitchen amid the tragic fires.
“It is an incredible thing to watch,” Garner told Tur, 41. “World Central Kitchen and Chef José just come in and… ‘We’ve got you. We’ve got this handled. Don’t worry.’ ”
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WCK and JA are at so many places where they’re needed — be it Gaza, or Ukraine, or North Carolina, or LA. All at more or less the same time. The logistics of running an organisation like that, and to even come up with the idea in the first place.
If someone deserved to be the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, it should be JA and WCK.
This was a great post to read.
I wonder if we’ll find out the name of her friend? I read an article last night that listed the names of the victims and interviewed their families and described how the victims ended up not making it out of the fires. Devastating to read but informative.
Although, now that I think about it, that article listed perhaps five of the victims by name, the death count is up to 11 now, isn’t it?
🥺
Last I heard the death toll was up to 24. And the last count of 16 missing who may or may not have perished.
Oh dear, I hadn’t heard that yet.
This is so heartbreaking. I’m so sorry she lost her friend and for everyone who lost a loved one, their beloved pets, or their homes.
How tragic. As devastating as the loss of homes is, I have been haunted by the thought of people not making it out of the fires. Last night on the news they interviewed a man who had five family members living on his street, all of whom are now homeless. His sister died in her home. His voice was cracking. It was heartbreaking.
My husband’s cousin is in the Brentwood area with his wife and infant son. Last I heard the fires were moving that way? I pray they won’t have lose their place as well.
WCK does amazing things. I’ll send another donation over too.
WCK is all apolitical. They just want to help. That in itself is a good message. And the action comes before the talk.
While I think it’s a tragedy and that will be our new normal, unless people (and politicians) start fighting climate change, I think it is a bit difficult to read all these empathetic accounts while these things happen right now, in this instance, in other parts of the world. not because of a fire, but because of war. Hundredthousands of people, children and old people alike, have no home, no education, no safe place to go and no one seems to care for them, unless they have a certain lifestyle that allows one to emphasize with them. That’s the other tragedy showing itself upon the one happening in Hollywood.
I’m sorry for the loss of her friend. This is just awful.
WCK is a charity you can support without reservation or worry – they truly do AMAZING work and help on so many levels, all around the world, all the time. I have a monthly donation set up to them and my local foodbank, but they’re one that I always add to when something like this happens.