Jurassic World star Chris Pratt has opened up about his tough past as he revealed that his family relied on food banks in the past.
In an Instagram Live, the 41-year-old Hollywood actor insisted “there’s no shame in” being dependent on food banks for support as he recalled the time his family was in need of help after running into “some economic hard times.”
Speaking to Feeding America CEO Clair Babineaux-Fontenot, the Guardians of the Galaxy star said:
“I grew up in a small town, we had 7,000 people in our town, and we had some economic hard times, and we had a food bank nearby and I’m not ashamed to say that there were moments when my family would need to eat from a food bank.
“There’s no shame in it — especially right now with what we are going through. There is help out there, and you can find that help and get that help, and there’s nothing wrong with needing that help.”
In his Instagram Live with the CEO of Feeding America, Pratt also went on to encourage people who don’t need support to help out those who need it.
“And if you are a person who doesn’t need help, there’s a great feeling in service of helping someone else. It’s a great thing to do this holiday season,” he added.
As the actor warned, the nation is facing food insecurity “the likes of which we haven’t seen in a very long time” due to the pandemic and its economic consequences.
“I think a lot of time when we’re illuminating this message and shining a light on this need, we’re saying, ‘How can we get people to help?’ but it’s important to de-stigmatize the idea that if you need help it’s okay to accept it. It is,” the 41-year-old concluded.
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