Simu Liu may be a superhero thanks to his role as Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the actor is doing some real-world good as well. Earlier this month, Liu was named the first-ever BoxLunch Giving Ambassador, teaming up with BoxLunch in support of their partnership with Feeding America to work to end hunger in the United States. And Wednesday night, at the BoxLunch Holiday Gala, Liu presented Feeding America a check for $100,000 on behalf of BoxLunch but he didn’t stop there. The actor matched the donation himself, resulting in a total donation of $200,000 to the organization and its mission.
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“As giving ambassador, I kind of feel like your first act should embody that spirit of giving and since it is the BoxLunch Holiday Gala, I decided to match it,” Liu said while presenting the check on stage. You can check out the moment below.
Speaking with ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis at the BoxLunch Holiday Gala benefitting Feeding America, Liu said that he took his role as giving ambassador seriously and that he felt it was important to support Feeding America and their mission against the biggest villain of all — food insecurity.
“I don’t take this title of giving Ambassador lightly. I think you know, this pandemic has been a hard time for all of us. I think it’s really disproportionately affected working class families of color. And, you know, people in my extended family and my extended family circles have been really, really affected by it,” Liu said. “I’m very, very proud to partner with an organization like box lunch, and a charity like Feeding America to be able to, you know, fight. You know, the quite possibly the biggest villain of all, which is food insecurity in America.”
Feeding America is the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization and has a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries that provide meal programs. For more than 40. years, Feeding America has responded to the American hunger crisis be providing food for those in need. According to the organization, 1 in ever 10 people in the United States is food insecure, meaning that they may not know where their next meal is coming from. BoxLunch has partnered with Feeding America since 2015 and has donated more than 150 million meals.
“We are thrilled and honored to have Simu Liu as the first ever BoxLunch Giving Ambassador,” Steve Vranes, CEO of Hot Topic Inc, said in a statement. “His support for Feeding America and BoxLunch will bring tremendous awareness to the mission of our organizations to end hunger and food insecurity.”
