Q & A: One-on-one with Hilary Duff

Clark County

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October 24, 2008

By TARA HETTINGER The News and Tribune Fri Oct 24, 2008, 12:33 PM EDT

Question: How and when did you become involved with Blessings in a Backpack?

HILARY DUFF: “I overheard [Stan Curtis] talking to my mom about the statistics of kids that don’t eat on the weekends in America and the percentage — what a huge problem it was. I was shocked and ready to do whatever I could to get involved and help to fix this problem. That’s kind of how it all got started.”

Q: You have a school where you fund this program, correct?

DUFF: “I’ve had my school in L.A. for a little less than three years now. It’s Normandy School, in South Central. There’s 1,100 students there who all get food on weekends.”

Q: Most people your age [21] would be purchasing material items, such as jewelry and cars with their money. Why do you choose to spend yours on this?

DUFF: “Because I feel passionate about it. I can’t fathom that this is such a problem in America. I just don’t get it.

“I love it. I wish I could have more schools right away. And just to watch it grow. This is a program that really works and it’s completely pure. When I give my check to my school each month, 100 percent, every last cent goes toward food. Nobody gets paid, you don’t have to buy backpacks, we find a way to get it all donated.

“We hope to be in every school so that no kid has to worry about not eating on the weekends anymore. It’s important. Why not? Why not be involved?”

Q: How do you manage your time with a career in singing and acting in addition to your volunteer work with this and other programs?

DUFF: “I’m young and have a lot of energy, I guess. I like to be busy.

“Also, I want to be in movies and I want to sing and I love writing and I love doing volunteer work and doing stuff that gets me out of that crazy business. As much as I love my job, it can be crazy and stuff like this really brings me back down to earth and keeps me grounded and makes me appreciate every little thing that happens in my life and everything that I have.

“So you make time for the things you enjoy, I guess. Even if that includes work.”

Q: You mentioned on stage [at Frazier] that you were nervous. How can someone like you who is such a star be nervous in front of an audience of kids who are really big fans?

DUFF: “It’s funny. I can get up and sing in front of 30,000 people and not be nervous at all but when it comes to something like this, when I’m really talking from the heart, I guess I get kind of flustered, because there’s so much I want to squeeze into my time and I really want people to understand what I’m saying, sometimes it just makes me a little nervous.

“It’s not like it’s a huge crowd of people. I can see everyone’s faces and they’re all taking my picture. I feel like a normal girl. So all that attention kind of flusters me, I guess, in the most positive way. I feel flattered at the same time. I feel shy, too, I guess.”

Q: What would you like to say to kids to inspire them to do something, to help out with something like this, like the little girl that had people bring backpacks in order to go to her sleepover party?

DUFF: “Can you believe that? That’s one of my favorite stories. This program has really had so many unexpected consequences come along with it, random acts of kindness or things that you wouldn’t expect a 9-year-old to come up with.

“I guess, she should inspire other 9-year-olds to go out and do something like that. She collected five backpacks and some people may think, ‘Well that’s not going to make a big difference.’ Well, five backpacks does make a huge difference. We need backpacks. We need people to be able to be our partner, to pick up a school and cover it for five years. We need help and when it comes to kids, we need them to know what’s going on in neighborhoods just a few feet away from theirs and want to help and want to give back. Those kids are our future, too.”