Jennifer Garner (left); flooding in Kentucky (right).Photo:Steve Granitz/FilmMagic;Jennifer Garner/Instagram
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic;Jennifer Garner/Instagram
More than a year afterhistoric flooding wiped out townsandleft families grievingin Kentucky,Jennifer Garnerreturned to the state to check in on how some of its students are doing as they enter a new school year.
In a segment from theTodayshow that aired Thursday, Garner, 51, took a trip to Perry County, Kentucky to revisit the town’s elementary school that had been wiped out from the flooding — which Gov. Andy Beshear called “one of the worst, most devastating flooding events in Kentucky’s history” at the time, perNPR.
“It just takes your breath away,” Garner, a West Virginia native, said onTodayof the site where Robinson Elementary School once stood. All that remains of the school is rubble after more than eight feet of water entered the premises last summer, rendering it unusable. Its extensive library was one of the more precious things lost.
“My little elementary school library totally shaped my life,” the actress added as she reflected on the loss for the students and paid a visit to the new school building to lend a hand on behalf of Save the Children, which she’s worked with since 2014.
Jennifer Garner visited Robinson Elementary School in Kentucky last year after the state faced devastating flooding.Jennifer Garner/Instagram
Jennifer Garner/Instagram
“The kids’ faces turned when we started talking about the floods,” Garner said of her day spent with the elementary schoolers. “They wanted me to know how scary it was, what it was like to lose their school, what it was like to lose their homes, where their family went.”
As she reflected on the trip, she said, “My takeaway is really that resilience — resilience comes from the doing. It comes from the putting one foot in front of the other, it comes from figuring things out and acting on it. But it also can’t happen in a vacuum. Sometimes you need community to wrap themselves around you, and boy, this community is strong.”
TheMiracles from Heavenactress then surprised the students and teachers with a gift from Scholastic of more than 500 books for the students to take home, extra resources for the teachers and a promise to donate 5,000 books to both of the two school’s future libraries once they are rebuilt.
“Children’s libraries are some of the most important places in our country, but you know what, a push cart is better than nothing,” Garner said. “A push cart with an amazing librarian like we met today, who’s prioritizing reading, who’s showing the kids that it matters enough that she will push around a cart to make sure they have some books.”
She continued of the children’s resilience, “There’s a lot of trauma just in growing up below the poverty line, and if you can name it, then you can heal, you can be resilient and move on. And it’s amazing — it’s amazing to watch in action.”
“They’re on their way back,” Garner added of the Kentucky school children.
Historic flooding in Kentucky in July 2022 devastated the state and left 45 people dead.Arden S. Barnes/For The Washington Post via Getty
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Gov. Beshear toldCNNof the flooding at the time, “This is so deadly, and it hit so hard, and it hit in the middle of the night.”
source: people.com
