Julianne Moore Talks Charity

Actress Julianne Moore has talked about how she got involved with Save the Children in a revealing interview with Redbook Magazine.

“A friend of mine is [Save the Children’s] artist-ambassador person,” she said in the interview. “She gets people involved. I didn’t realize Save the Children had a U.S. program; it reaches communities through the public school system with after-school programs in nutrition, exercise, literacy. We moved a lot when I was little because my dad was in the military, and I went to one public school after another. I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska; Fayetteville, South Carolina; Juneau, Alaska; Falls Church, Virginia. In Juneau — I’ve told this story many times; it was a formative experience for me — there was a girl in my class. She looked different, very small for her age, very thin, eyes very wide; there was something wrong but no one knew what. I now realize she had fetal alcohol syndrome. It makes me want to cry. I look at our public school system and think there’s so much we can do to pick up the slack. So now I’m Save the Children’s U.S. ambassador.”

Moore is currently fronting Save The Children’s Valentine Card Campaign, in which she has recruited the children’s book illustrators that she admires most to design exclusive Valentine’s Day cards to raise money for the charity.

“Last year we took a trip to Appalachia, and on the way back I came up with this Valentine’s Day program. We used kids’ art. I was inspired by UNICEF, I wanted the campaign to be about kids doing something for other children in the U.S. — let’s raise the awareness of children about U.S. poverty. You can do something by buying these valentines — no matter how small a donation you’re making, it will go to other kids. This year, I e-mailed illustrators and artists I admire and asked them each to donate art for a valentine, and I got this amazing response."

To read the entire interview with Julianne Moore, visit the Redbook website.