Jennifer Garner Pens Touching Message After Visiting Children Affected by Hurricane Harvey

Mother of three travels to Houston to help hand out donations to families in need through Save the Children

By Meg Swertlow Sep 09, 2017 11:55 PMTags

Jennifer Garner is using her star power to help kids in need.

On Friday, the superstar and mother of three paid a visit to Save the Children in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, wreaked its havoc on the Lone Star State.

During the trip, Jennifer, who is on Save the Children's Board of Trustees, visited Hilliard Elementary to help hand out donations to families who have young children in need.

After the visit, Jen took to her Instagram to share photos with her fans and write a touching message, "Today I was inspired by the huge hearts in Texas. There is a generosity of spirit that gets lost in political rhetoric, but-- people come together in a time of crisis. You know what’s beautiful? Children look for light."

 

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The big-hearted A-lister added, "Terrifying things have happened to these kids in the past couple of weeks, but they don’t want to dwell on those stories. They want to tell you that their neighbor’s puppy was found. That they saved their mother’s life by throwing her a rope when the flood water overcame her and now she’s ok. That they all celebrated when power came back on. We have to protect our kids and we have to learn from them." 

A rep for Save the Children tells E! News, "Jennifer was there for a day visit with children and families benefiting from Save the Children's response. Our emergency response team has been on the ground in Texas since before the storm hit, working to meet children and families' immediate needs. We also established child-friendly spaces in evacuation shelters and have been distributing essential supplies to those impacted."

According to the organization's press release, "Save the Children is the national leader in helping restore child care and early education centers after emergencies, and helped lead such efforts in Texas in 2008 in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and in New Jersey and New York in 2012 in the wake of Hurricane Sandy."

But Jen's not the only celebrity who has donated time and/or money to the victims of Hurricane Harvey. JJ Watt, Kevin Hart, Pink and Sandra Bullock are just some of the famous faces who have given huge sums of money to help Hurricane Harvey relief.

Check out the other celebs who have given what they can to Harvey relief efforts...

Pink

The superstar singer announced she would be donating $1 million to the Red Cross to aid in Hurricane Harvey relief.

Leonardo DiCaprio

E! News confirmed that the inaugural donation made to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund was from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which made a $1 million contribution.

"We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation," United Way Worldwide President and CEO Brian Gallagher said in a statement. "Responding to Hurricane Harvey requires the best of all of us–and that's what this gift represents."

LeAnn Rimes

Instead of giving gifts, the singer used her 35th birthday to ask friends to donate to YouCaring fundraiser that will go to rebuilding the La Vita Bella nursing home in Texas that was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.

Hilary Duff

The Houston native donated $20K to the Red Cross and $20K to the Houston Food Bank.

Jensen Ackles

The Supernatural cast thanks fans for giving to a crowdrise fund and asked people to give via his Instagram account.

Jennifer Lopez & Alex Rodriguez

Sharing a joint Instgram video, the couple donated $50K as a couple to help out Houston and the surrounding areas. "We have to pull together," said the singer.

Ellen DeGeneres

Funny lady says she will be donating $25K to the Red Cross, $25K to the SPCA of Texas, and that her show will be donating $25K to the Red Cross as well.

DJ Khaled

The music man accepted Kevin Hart's challenge and gave $25K.

Solange

The singer announced, "I will be doing a special 'Orions Rise' show in Boston, and ALL proceeds will go towards Hurricane Harvey Relief. I'm committed to partnering with organizations on the ground in Houston and making contributions to uplift the city that raised me with so much love. See you September 28th Boston, I thank you in advance for making this a special meaningful night!"

Demi Lovato

The "Sorry Not Sorry" singer said on Twitter she would be giving $50K.

Drake

The Canadian singer announced on Instagram he would be donating $200K to help rebuild Houston.

Beyonce

The singer didn't disclose how much she gave but she did release a statement to the Houston Chronicle, saying, "My heart goes out to my hometown, Houston, and I remain in constant prayer for those affected and for the rescuers who have been so brave and determined to do so much to help."

Her BeyGood Foundation has teamed up with Bread of Life and Greater Houston Community Foundation to help with relief efforts.

Miranda Lambert

The singer helped rescue over 200 dogs and cats from Hurricane Harvey.

Jamie Foxx

On Sept. 12, the funnyman will come together with Reese WitherspoonBlake Shelton and more for a telethon benefitting Hurricane Harvey victims.

Busy Philipps

The actress shared an image of her $25 donation with the caption, "Very easy thing I just did. You can too, if you're so inclined. Text HARVEY to 90999 to donate 10 dollars to the @americanredcross for hurricane relief AND/OR text HURRICANE to 20222 to donate 25 dollars to @savethechildren. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the path of Hurricane Harvey."

Chris Young

The singer donated $100,000 to relief efforts and launched his own crowdfunding initiative, which has raised over $369K so far.

J.J. Watt

Houston Texans' defensive end took to Twitter to create a fundraiser for recovery efforts, which raised over $600K in less than 24 hours. The NFL star posted a minute-long video of himself asking for help, along with the caption, "Recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey will be massive. We must come together to help rebuild our communities."

Watt's fund has raised over $18 million.

Kevin Hart

The funnyman started a huge donation flurry from famous folk and random people who wanted to help by starting the Hurricane Harvey Relief Challenge.  Hart's CrowdRise page received upwards of $1.3 million from over 8,000 people.

Hart donated $25,000 and asked Beyoncé, Dave Chappelle, Jay-Z, Dwayne Johnson, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Justin Timberlake to match his donation. Following the huge response, Hart donated another $25K and inspired stars like Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown to donate.

Justin Bieber

The Canadian singer accepted Kevin Hart's challenge and donated $25K to relief efforts.

Dwayne Johnson

Accepting Kevin Hart's challenge, the Rock gave $25K to the Red Cross.

Tyler Perry

The actor recently announced in a Facebook video that he would be donating $1 million to the tragedy. 

"As someone who is from New Orleans and was involved in helping those affected by Katrina, he knows all too well how this affects everyday lives and he wanted to do something to give back," a source shared with E! News.

Sandra Bullock

The Oscar winner donated a $1 million sum to the Red Cross for Hurricane Harvey relief.

Miley Cyrus

On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen DeGeneres revealed that Miley said backstage she is donating $500,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

Kim Kardashian

The reality star and her family donated $500K to Hurricane Harvey relief.

Taylor Swift

"Taylor Swift has generously made a very sizable donation to Houston Food Bank in honor of her mother who graduated from the University of Houston," the group said in a message posted on Facebook. "We thank you, Taylor, and we thank everyone for donating to help rebuild our community. #houstonstrong."

—Reporting by Holly Passalaqua.