The 'Jurassic World: Dominion' actor reminds those in need, 'If you need help it's okay to accept it,' when talking with Feeding America CEO to raise awareness about food insecurity across the country.
- Nov 26, 2020
AceShowbiz - Chris Pratt is putting an issue close to his heart under the spotlight. When raising awareness on food insecurity across the United States, the "Jurassic World: Dominion" star stressed on the need to seek help amid difficult time by sharing a personal experience when his family was forced to rely on food banks.
The 41-year-old weighed in on the matter during an Instagram Live chat with Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot. "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," he stated.
"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," he shared his poor childhood. "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," the husband of Katherine Schwarzenegger urged those struggling. He went on to add, "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."
During the chat, the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star also weighed in on how the COVID-19 outbreak affected families who need steady and nutritious food. "With a combination of this pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn, we're looking at food instability for families, the likes of which we haven't seen in a very long time in this country," he pointed out.
Growing up, Pratt saw his mother working at a grocery store and his father, who passed away in 2014, working in construction. He went to a local community college for half a semester before dropping out at the age of 17. He then went to Hawaii with a friend without having a place to live in.
"It's a pretty awesome place to be homeless," he reminisced in another interview with Independent. "It would be different if I lived on the streets of Chicago and ate garbage from a dumpster. We just drank and smoked weed and worked minimal hours, 15-20 hours per week, just enough to cover gas, food and fishing supplies. You know, it was charming time."
