LTTS Exclusive: Marissa Jaret Winokur Talks Charity And Cancer

LookToTheStars.org’s Hollywood Insider Maxine Tatlonghari was lucky enough to talk exclusively with The Talk’s Marissa Jaret Winokur at the WE CAN Community-wide Food Drive benefiting the Burbank Temporary Aid Center co-hosted by Ali Landry and Yum! Brands on November 16, 2010 at the Burbank Boys and Girls Club.

What brought you out today?

My sister-in-law told me about the day, and my friend Ali (Landry) had sent me an email a long time ago asking me to support this. As friends you like to support each other’s causes and this is a really good one. I do a lot of stuff on my own but I still try to be really good about showing up when my friends ask me to “come, come!”

Can you tell us about some of the other work that you do?

I’m really big into cancer-related causes because this December is 10 years of cancer survivorship.

Happy Birthday! I used to work for American Cancer Society so I totally understand that 10 years is a HUGE deal!

Thank you so much. So yes, you can imagine how important this is to me. So I work with Ronald McDonald House [and] St. Judes. My passion is cancer awareness for young girls.

And how important do you think it is for celebrities to come and support charities?

So important! I wish it wasn’t that way but it’s true that people will get involved with charities if there is a celebrity attached. Pictures have to be put in the press which raises awareness. On The Talk, I do a lot of “Man on the Street” type stuff and I love to do things were you go into a neighborhood and shed some light on where one person is making a difference.

But it is true, if you add a celebrity face to a cause it can help raise awareness. I love that new show “School Pride”, which was going on all around the country and inspired them to create the show because everyday people were in their communities making a difference.

And once something hits the media, it can become even more popular. On The Talk, I want to do more real people stories. I call them “momspirational” — as in “Mom Inspirational” – things because I think it has a domino effect. Once someone sees a person doing something good, they might be inspired to do the same and say to themselves, “Yeah I can do that. I can go serve food for a day.” So if my being here helps to ultimately feed more people or inspire more people to get involved, then I am going to do it … I wish I could do it all!